


Phobias

by iCheeseYou



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Boys' Love, Gay, Gay Sex, Getting to Know Each Other, Hate to Love, Love/Hate, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Phobias, Sexual Assault, Smut, Triggers, bottom!Michael, haphephobic!michael, monophobic!luke, pediophobic!ashton, philophobic!calum, top!Calum
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-16
Updated: 2018-01-03
Packaged: 2018-04-04 17:49:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 47,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4147131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iCheeseYou/pseuds/iCheeseYou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Nobody takes my phobia seriously. They all think it's something that'll just go away on its own and a lot of people use my own phobia against me. No one knows how terrified I become when my fear starts kicking in, and even if they did, they don't care at all. It causes a lot of distress on my part, and I hate that. Sometimes I wish I could somehow conquer my fear, but that's easier said than done."</p><p>"I understand exactly what you mean, and let me tell you: You're not alone on that."</p><p>The one where Ashton Irwin has pediophobia, the fear of dolls, and Luke Hemmings has monophobia, the fear of being alone.</p><p>-</p><p>"Stay as far away from me as possible, and don't you even dare come near me."</p><p>"Don't worry. I wouldn't want to get close to you anyway."</p><p>The one where Michael Clifford has haphephobia, the fear of touch, and Calum Hood has philophobia, the fear of falling in love.</p><p>© 2015 iCheeseYou</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> **Before you start the story, read this:**  
>  This story will/may have contents that may be triggering. I highly advise you read this story with caution. It won't all be entirely sad. This story is mostly fluffy with bits of sadness (mainly due to phobias that are mentioned though). Again, **READ WITH CAUTION**.
> 
> In this story, Luke tops in Lashton and Calum tops in Malum. So if you're the kind of person who is picky on who tops, then you have every right to exit out of this story and never think of it again.
> 
> They are all the same age. Eighteen years old.
> 
> Okay, thank you for taking your time to read that. You may proceed.

It's easier said than done to overcome a phobia one may have, but those who don't have the same phobia as that person does will not understand that. Some people think another person's phobia is ridiculous and that there's nothing to even be afraid of—it's all in that person's head and they need to stop being afraid.

Again, it is not that simple to just "stop being afraid" of something. No one is the same and they all have their reasons as to why they fear whatever they fear. It's a psychological phenomenon and it's difficult to explain how phobias are developed. Most of the time, it's because that person experienced a traumatic event, and that has affected his or her life in a not-so-positive way. Or perhaps it's because that person finds whatever they're afraid of to be, well, terrifying.

With that being said, phobias aren't something that should be taken lightly. They are just as serious as mental disorders, and they will most certainly not go away overnight. Phobias cannot simply be conquered within a second, and those who claim to be fearless have yet to know that.

In a school where being afraid is frowned upon, there are four boys who know about fear and how hard it is to be afraid of something no one else seems to understand.

The first boy's name is Ashton Irwin, an eighteen-year-old boy who's in his last year of high school and is constantly picked on every single day by his peers. The majority of the student body make fun of something he has little to no control over, and that's the phobia he has.

It all started back in his first year of high school. He was in Health class and it was the day where every single student had to perform CPR on a dummy. As his turn drew near, his heart was beating faster and faster, tears were forming in his eyes, and he had the strongest need to either cry, throw up, or pass out.

The moment the teacher called his name, he ran out of the room, screaming and crying all the way to the janitor's closet. When he returned, he had to explain to the entire class for his sudden action, and he admitted to having pediophobia, the fear of dolls.

Ever since then, some of the members of the football team who had the same class as he did made fun of him. They mocked his screams and brought their little sisters' dolls to school to "help Ashton get over his fear," but really they just wanted to chase around and torment the poor boy. Eventually, the entire school caught on that Ashton was afraid of dolls, and he became the laughing stock. Those who didn't bother him sent him looks of pity, but not a soul was brave enough to step up and tell off everyone else.

To this day, no one understands Ashton's phobia and how bad it is. Not even his family members understand, but they do know that he has specific rules when it comes to dolls.

He refuses to touch anyone who's had recent contact with a doll unless that person washes with plenty of soap and water whatever and wherever the doll touched them, he refuses to eat and drink anything if a doll is in his presence (he'll feel like throwing up), and he won't (or more like is unable to) look away if he makes direct contact with a doll unless something steps in between the line of contact. He will cry if any doll—stuffed animal, human doll, mannequin, whatever's related to any of those—is too close to him.

Even Ashton isn't entirely sure when he started becoming terrified of dolls. It just happened, and there's nothing that he wishes more than to get over his fear.

Alas, things aren't that simple, and his greatest wish will most likely never be fulfilled.

The second boy's name is Luke Hemmings, a tall eighteen-year-old blond who's also in his last year of high school. He's shy, quiet, and the kind of person that no one pays attention to. He's practically invisible to the entire school and he doesn't get caught in any drama. No one talks to him, and if one is asked about Luke Hemmings, he or she will be puzzled, for that person knows no soul with that name.

Luke actually prefers to not be associated with anyone; he likes to have time to himself. The ironic thing about this is that, he has monophobia, the fear of being alone. It's more of physical solitude that he's afraid of. The absence of anything living makes him go mad and he will end up freaking out. If no noise is heard, he listens to music on his iPod, for the artists are the substitutes for sound. He secretly carries around two stuffed penguins named Puff and Pebbles wherever he goes, because if he's physically alone and his iPod dies, he has his stuffed best friends to comfort him.

How he got his phobia is no mystery to the blond boy. It began when Luke was a small boy. He woke up to an empty house one day and searched around the place for his parents. They left nothing behind that told Luke where they went, so he was stuck at home all by himself. After running around the place for an hour to find clues, he collapsed to the ground, curled up into a ball, and cried in the middle of the room. He didn't realize how terrifying being alone was until that day. He remained in a fetal position for hours until his mom finally arrived home from a friend's house. She comforted him until his crying subsided and even took him out (upon his persistent pleas) to buy a whole bunch of penguins to fill up his room so he wouldn't ever feel alone again.

The very first stuffed animals his mom ever bought him were Puff and Pebbles. Puff was a grey and fluffy penguin with one of the cutest faces Luke has ever seen. Pebbles was a penguin with a black coat and was in the shape of a sphere. Those two are his favorites and, although Puff and Pebbles are not living creatures, Luke will argue that they indeed are, no matter what anyone says. He will not change his mind.

Since Luke hardly ever interacts with anyone, no one knows about how much being alone scares him. No one can pick on him about his phobia or how he brings stuffed animals to school every day. (He keeps Puff and Pebbles in his backpack at all times unless he's all by himself and is in need of some sort of company.) As long as no one is in the same room as he is, no one will ever find out about him having monophobia.

The third boy is an eighteen-year-old boy named Michael Clifford. He is actually quite popular among all students in the school, most commonly known as the boy who dyes his hair every month. He's so well-known, he's considered too great to be touched by anyone. So no one even dares touch him.

Little does anyone know, Michael is more than grateful that everyone thinks that, because he has a very rare phobia called haphephobia, the fear of being touched. He makes sure that everybody knows not to touch him at all without exposing his fear. He once spread a rumor that someone once sneaked up on him and it ended up with that kid getting a punch so hard in the face that he was sent to the emergency room. Since then, no one—absolutely no one who knows him—even thought of ever laying a finger on him.

The thing that caused his phobia is something that he does not like to talk about. It's not something that occurred when he was a kid, but more of a recent event. He has never told anyone about it, and he has no intention on ever sharing it with anyone. Ever. He's ashamed of what happened, and the last thing he needs is for someone else to look down on him.

Michael never gets himself involved with anyone unless it has to do with him. Usually, it starts when someone goes up to him first—that's when he becomes defensive and puts up a tough act to keep that person away from him. Despite having a phobia, no one pokes fun at him, because his confidence is evident and that makes others believe that he's fearless. The thought of him having a phobia as rare as the fear of being touched has never once crossed anyone's mind, and he would like to keep things that way. He's seen Ashton get bothered by everyone, especially the football team, and he does not wish to be in the boy's place.

The last boy is named Calum Hood, also eighteen years old and is from New Zealand. He's still considered the new guy at school, since he moved to town in the middle of the previous school year. Like the other three boys, he's in his senior year and is also very easy on the eyes, according to the majority of the female population. He's captured the hearts of many girls at the school and has received many love confessions. He'd agree to go on one date, but that's the furthest he'll ever go for a relationship. He'd never ask to be a girl's boyfriend nor would he ever hook up with anyone.

It isn't because the dates Calum has been on ended horribly. It's more of personal issues that keep him from getting together with anyone. He does not want to get too attached to anyone, because that means he'll start liking that person and that small crush will develop into love.

That's just it. It's love he does not want to deal with. He has fallen in love before, and things did not go well for him. His love life isn't something he wants to bring up; the most he'll tell anyone is that the last love he had did not work out so well. He knows the pain of being in love, for he tends to fall in love way too easily, and it is most certainly something he does not ever want to go through again. For that, he's afraid of falling in love—he has philophobia.

Calum's considered a player, even though he's never had sex with anyone since moving from New Zealand and has yet to lose his virginity. Despite already earning the title of the school player, girls are always crawling to him and wanting to win his heart. Everyone who's heard of Calum knows he never dates. All he does is go on a single date with a girl before he breaks it to her that he does not wish to proceed to a serious relationship. He's learned to not feel guilty when a girl cries from his rejection, because he's doing what's best for him. He's keeping everyone out so he does not have to repeat the past.

He may have a phobia, but no one has ever gotten close enough to Calum to figure that out. He's done a good job shutting people out, and he hopes no one ever breaks down the walls he's built. Calum does not know what he'd do to himself if he goes through the pain of being hopelessly in love again. He's had the horrible feeling before, and it did not feel good to him. He'd be absolutely insane to deal with all of that once more.

The four boys never once associated with one another, and the thought of ever becoming a part of each others' lives never came across their minds.

No one would have ever guessed that day existed, let alone would ever come.

But it did.

And this is how it all began.

How four boys befriend one another, go through every obstacle thrown at them together, and become the greatest that they'll ever achieve.

This is the story of the four boys with four phobias.


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The guy below is what a character later on mentioned looks like.

"Oh, look. It's Doll Boy."

Ashton kept facing ahead, not wanting to respond to a name that wasn't his. He walked faster towards his locker, but the person got closer as the name and footsteps got louder.

He felt his backpack being yanked back and he was sent towards the ground, his scared hazel eyes coming in contact with the football team captain's brown ones.

"I was talking to you, Doll Boy," he, the captain named Jim, hissed.

Back in the past Ashton would have snapped back at him, but he knew what'd happen if he did that.

"I-I didn't hear you," he said, trying to stand onto his feet, but he was only pushed back down when the football captain pressed his foot against Ashton's chest.

"Doubt it, Doll Boy." The guy leaned over a bit to get a better look at Ashton's terrified face. "Next time you ignore me, Doll Boy--"

"No, please!" Ashton cried out, bringing his hands up in front of his face. "Anything but that!"

"Don't interrupt me!" Jim pressed his foot down on Ashton harder, making the smaller boy whimper.

"I-I'm sorry." The wavy-haired boy made a small whimpering sound. "J-Just let me go f-for now."

Jim huffed before stepping off of Ashton, tapping his toes against the smaller boy's side. "Get ready for your therapy after lunch, Doll Boy." He just laughed as he walked off with his other friends.

Ashton wanted to so badly curl up into a ball on the floor and cry, but he already looked pathetic not too long ago, so he forced himself onto his feet and balanced himself by holding onto the lockers for support. Once he was standing, he brushed himself off and went straight for his locker.

Once he got to his locker, he opened it up and brought his backpack in front of him. He unzipped it and then placed his math book inside. He pulled out his science book and held it close to him, shutting the locker door.

When he turned himself around, someone bumped into him and knocked the science book out of his hold. He glanced over to who had ran into him, seeing a brunette rushing off, sobs leaving her. He looked at the other way, seeing none other than Calum Hood sighing and running his fingers through his dark hair. The boy turned on his heels and walked away.

Ashton didn't understand why so many girls were attracted to him. He had broken more hearts than Ashton could remember, and pretty much everyone in the entire school knew that. So why did anyone even bother asking him out? And if he was going to end up turning them down, why did Calum agree to go out with them in the first place?

Before he could leave, he heard a bunch of people laughing and his attention immediately went over to the group of teens that weren't too far from him.

He saw a group of three, but only one of them stood out to him. This guy had red hair, an eyebrow piercing, and armband tattoos. He was wearing a leather jacket and a white T-shirt along with black skinny jeans, the outfit completed with completely black converse high tops on his feet. Ashton didn't know why his attention was mainly on this guy--it just was.

As Ashton turned around and was about to start walking, someone bumped into his shoulder, making him drop his science book. A plop sound echoed throughout the room and people looked in Ashton's direction. Ashton just looked at the person who had ran into him, seeing a person with blond hair running off.

He shook his head, kneeling down to pick up his fallen object. He brushed off the dust that dirtied the book and then started heading to the library, which was a place where there was peace and quiet and where he couldn't be bothered without the librarian kicking anyone out.

There was still some time before the first hour of class started, so Ashton decided to spend the rest of it reading. He had a test later on that day, but he didn't need to study for it. It was just French--he had high confidence he was going to pass it, anyway.

Ashton went to the back of the library and set his science book and backpack down on the ground and then took a seat beside them. He zipped open his backpack and pulled out a book called Boy Meets Boy. He found it one day when he was looking for something to read. The only reason why he chose to read that book was because it revolved around a gay couple. It was the first gay book he's seen in the school library, after all.

When he opened up the book, he heard some girls chatting in one of the book aisles. Something about a sleepover that would be filled with watching movies on Netflix, stuffing their faces with sweets, doing each other's makeup, talking about which boys they want to have sex with (Calum may have been mentioned), and just gossiping about other stuff.

The wavy-haired boy did his best to ignore the rather noisy girls, but he couldn't when his name was brought up.

"I'm all up for horror movies," said a girl with curly brown hair. "I'm not scared of anything."

"Same. But that Ashton kid is. Like, how is he afraid of dolls?" another girl with short red hair asked.

"Right? They're not even scary looking!" a blonde exclaimed, not even caring that she was in a library. "No wonder he's single. No girl would want a man who's scared of a doll."

Ashton rolled his eyes. These girls obviously didn't understand how not everyone thinks the same thing--how to him dolls were the scariest things ever created, but he wasn't going to go up to them and explain it. Why would he? No one would get it anyway. Plus, he didn't care about finding himself a girlfriend. He wasn't even attracted to girls. If anything, he was aiming for a guy. But he had high school to worry about. He can find a boyfriend when he gets to university.

"He's such a wimp," scoffed the blonde. "Even little girls can tolerate dolls."

"It just proves that he's the last bravest person in the world. If he even is brave at all."

They started laughing and many people told them to shut up or get out of the library. Ashton, on the other hand, wasn't going to listen to a bunch of idiots talk about how stupid his phobia right in front of him. So he shoved all his belongings into his backpack, stood up, swung his bag over his shoulder, and walked away.

When he left the library, some people were looking at him. Ashton, like always, began feeling self-conscious and pulled his hood over his head. No one is allowed to wear a hood during school hours on campus, but he didn't care. Supervision at school can tell him to take it off all they want, but it wouldn't mean he'd listen. Right now, he needed a way to hide himself as he headed to his first class.

The bell rang shortly after he entered his Physics class, and he mentally groaned. The start of yet another day at hell. He couldn't wait until the last day of school. He'd get away from all the people at school (unless they decided to attend the same university as Ashton, but he found that highly unlikely since he didn't plan on attending a university within Australia).

As he was pulling out his science book, the classroom started to fill up with more students that were loudly chatting with their friends. Ashton folded his arms on top of his desk and pressed his face in them. He decided to take a five minute nap before class started.

However during his nap, he felt his hood being yanked off and he raised his head, seeing Mr. Cooper walking by, shaking his head. Ashton rolled his eyes, but didn't bother wearing his hood again.

Some people noticed what just happened and were snickering to themselves, obnoxiously might Ashton add. He didn't care about it--he was used to being ridiculed by the school.

But for once he wished someone would understand him. Anyone at all.

He mentally scoffed and thought, _Yeah right. Like anyone at this God forsaken school would understand phobias at all._

-

Lunch time arrived and Ashton was more than happy to run out of his Calculus class. He was so done with learning how to integrate equations. Most of the people in his class understood it, but Ashton didn't. He wasn't the smartest person, but he was trying his hardest. He needed to get good grades in order for him to qualify for admission to the university he wanted to attend. He still had a pretty high cumulative grade, since he spent a lot of his time studying. It wasn't like he had a social life, so he just studied. And he was glad to say that it paid off.

He went to get lunch for himself, which was just a Caesar salad along with ranch dressing and a carton of chocolate milk, and went to find a table to sit at. Every table was taken, but there was one table where only one person sat at, but it was just some kid with blond hair. Ashton didn't know him at all. Not even his name. He didn't even know what his face looked like, because every day at lunch the blond boy practically had his head sticking inside his backpack. For what reason, Ashton didn't know. But he didn't want to sit with anyone, so instead he stuffed his lunch inside his backpack (thankfully the school served the salads in plastic containers) and left the cafeteria.

Of all places he chose to eat at, it was the rooftop. No student was allowed to eat in the halls, because it was just the rules. It was a dumb rule, but it was what it was. It also didn't help that the school was only one building. He couldn't eat in the library, so he chose the rooftop. Normally that area was restricted for students, but Ashton knew the janitor, Eddy, and the guy let him go to wherever as long as Ashton told him.

How did the two meet? One time after school in sophomore year, Ashton was shoved in the closet by Jim and his posse and was locked inside with a stuffed panda too close to him. The poor boy was trapped for an hour before Eddy came by and heard his sobs, helping him out and comforting him (and also manually disposing the stuffed toy and having to wash his hands thoroughly with lots of soap and water under Ashton's constant pleas). Since then, to help Ashton out, he gave him access to places students couldn't go to in order to get away from his tormentors.

But that was the most Eddy did for the wavy-haired boy. When he tried to report about the incident to the principal, he was turned away, because Mr. O'Shaughnessy found it ridiculous. That angered Eddy, but he couldn't do anything else. He'd try to confront the bullies, but why would they listen to him? Eddy was nothing but a janitor.

Even though the janitor couldn't do much for Ashton, the eighteen-year-old was more than grateful for him. At least someone helped him out a bit.

After thanking Eddy, Ashton slowly went up the stairs to the roof. Once there, he noticed that the place was empty, as expected. He went closer to the edge and peaked over the wall and downwards, seeing the swimming pool and car park below. Then he took a seat against the wall, setting his backpack beside him and pulling out his lunch. With the fork that he also got from the cafeteria, he ate his salad and just stared up at the blue sky.

With the peaceful noises that filled his ears, Ashton was able to enjoy the rest of lunchtime by himself. There was nothing there to disturb his peaceful time, and he was grateful for each second that passed by. But his happiness was over when the bell rang, signaling that lunch was over. That meant he had to go back to his classes. He really didn't want to, but if he wanted to go to his dream university, what other choice did he have? All Ashton had to do was avoid Jim and/or his group for the rest of the day and he'll be able to go home.

He stood up and picked up his empty container that once had his salad in it, slinging his backpack over his shoulder and walking over to the trash bin nearby to throw away his trash. His chocolate milk was still in his backpack, so he brought his backpack in front of him and pulled out his drink, zipping his bag back up and walking back inside the building.

The wavy-haired was soon back in the halls where students were going to their lockers or their next class. He began to open up his chocolate milk carton and was about to drink it, but then his eyes landed on Jim who was not too far away from him. Sad thing was, Jim saw Ashton.

As the football captain was making his way over to Ashton, Ashton was going the other way to get as far away from his bully as possible. He had to swerve past other people, and he may or may not have spilled chocolate milk onto the ground while doing so. Once he was in open space, he went inside the first classroom that had its door open, which coincidentally happened to be French, his last class of the day.

"Bonjour, Madame Fern," Ashton greeted, giving her a small wave. Then he went to take a seat at his desk, his eyes looking at the door. When he saw Jim glare inside the classroom while shaking his head, Ashton knew that he was safe for today, but he wouldn't be so lucky tomorrow.

-

"Get me a Green Day record."

"No."

"Why? I finally have a record player, and all I ask is for you to get me one record from the music store!"

Ashton sighed, rubbing his hand over his face as he slumped into the driver's seat. His sister, Lauren, had been bugging him about getting a record every single day since their grandpa gave her a record player for her birthday. He didn't even know why she even wanted a record player. Who even owns those nowadays? Lauren and old people who weren't his grandpa.

"Remind me again the reason why you wanted a record player in the first place?" Ashton said into the phone. "Those have been obsolete for years."

"Uh, because I love antiques?" Lauren said like it was the most obvious answer ever. "Plus, if you don't get me the record, I'll let Quinn sit right in front of the only entrance to the house until you get me a Green Day record."

Ashton's eyes practically bulged out of his head and his heart started pounding hard. "Y-You can't do that! Mum said you can't threaten me with dolls!"

Lauren laughed. "Who said I'd listen to her? Anyway, get me a Green Day record now. If you do, I'll let you listen to it with me."

The wavy-haired boy grumbled. He really wanted Lauren to get rid of the dumb doll, but he couldn't ask her to do that. It was a gift from their grandma to her, and the only memory she had of her before she left.

"Fine," Ashton grumbled. "But we listen to it in my room where it's free from dolls."

"Yeah, okay," Lauren said.

"You bring it over to my room right now. And wash your hands with lots of soap and water--!"

"I know! Jeez, I'll never understand your rules."

Ashton quickly hung up the phone and pretty much just dropped it in the cup holder. He started the car and was about to drive away, but then something outside caught his attention.

He saw the guy with red hair walk out of the school with a friend by his side. The other guy held up his hand that was balled up, wanting to fist bump the red-haired boy. But the latter boy just stared down at the fist, blinking once before shaking his head and walking away from the guy.

When the two guys were going in different directions, Ashton turned his attention back to his car, put the vehicle in reverse. He started backing out of the parking spot and drove out of the car park, going to the mall where he'd arrive at the music store to get Lauren her Green Day record.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you say anything about Ashton's rules regarding his phobia, let me tell you a few things first.
> 
> Yes, his rules are dramatic, ridiculous, and crazy. But his rules are my rules, too. I have pediophobia (although I can bear with stuffed animals), and when you insult/make fun of his rules, you are insulting/making fun of my rules. I understand you guys may find this idiosyncratic, but please be considerate of how I feel, because I seriously cannot live in a world with dolls without those rules.
> 
> Thank you for taking your time to read that. I highly appreciate it. I hope you enjoy the rest of the story (:


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: What Puff and Pebbles look like in the story.

"Nononononononono! I'm late!" Luke jumped out of bed and frantically grabbed his blanket and covering the bed with it. He pushed past the millions of stuffed penguins on his bed before reaching for one of them. "Come on, Puff!"

Without waiting for any response from the penguin, he picked it up and rushed to the bathroom where he would get ready for the school day. Luke sat the stuffed animal on the counter and made sure it was comfortable where it was, patting the top of its head. Then he started the process of brushing his teeth.

After finishing, he splashed water onto his face and then dried it. He didn't have time to style his hair into its quiff, so he simply ran his fingers through his hair. He gave himself one last look in the mirror and smiled before grabbing the penguin and hurrying back to his room.

Luke sat the stuffed animal down on the bed and then hurried over to his dresser where his clothes were. He stripped out of his basketball shorts that he usually wears to sleep and pulled out a dark grey shirt with a picture of a cartoon penguin on it and black skinny jeans. After throwing those on, he went over to his closet and pulled out a black and white flannel jacket and put his arms through the sleeves.

When his eyes looked at the digital clock, they widened when seeing how much time he had left before school started. And that made him run over to where his backpack was on the ground by the door. He practically picked it up and threw it over towards the bed, making it almost land right on top of his favorite penguins.

The blond gasped as he went over to the bed, moving the backpack aside and picking up two of the penguins. Then he said in an apologetic tone, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you guys. But I'm running late for school, and we need to get there now!"

With that said, Luke held the two penguins named Puff and Pebbles close to him with one arm. He threw his backpack over his shoulder and then went to where his phone was on the table. The earbuds were set aside, so Luke plugged those into his phone and unlocked the small mobile device. He opened up his music library and selected the song Until The End by Breaking Benjamin. When the music began, he grinned and walked out of his bedroom, not even bothering to make his bed.

The moment he got downstairs, he slipped on his black Vans and left the house, power walking to school. He had thirty minutes before school started, but he could only get there by walking and it took him approximately fifteen minutes to get there if he hurried.

Why did he have to hurry to get to school? Because his first class was on the first floor, but Luke's locker was on the second floor. It also didn't help that his class and locker were on opposite sides of the school. Luke wished the school wasn't designed that way, but oh well. It was his last year, anyway.

Puff and Pebbles were still in his tight embrace, but he made sure to conceal the small penguins from anyone, just in case anyone from school were to spot him. With his thumb, Luke gave Puff a kiss on the top of his head while rubbing his thumb against the side of Pebbles's face.

"Ready for another day at school?" he asked the penguins.

As usual, the penguins didn't say anything, but Luke didn't mind. He bit his bottom lip and stared straight ahead. "I'm not. Another day of being ignored by everyone." Once again, he looked down at them. "But you guys will always be there for me. I'm sorry I have to leave you in my locker. I'd love to take you guys with me to class, but I don't have enough room in my backpack."

After minutes of speed walking and Breaking Benjamin playing in his ears, Luke spotted his high school coming into view. Using his jacket he hid away his penguins and then rushed inside the school.

Luke was moving past students just to get to his locker quickly. He even bumped his shoulder against someone else, but he neither looked back nor apologized. He just kept on going straight to his locker. He was even called out for running by a teacher, but he had earbuds in his ear and the music was up at a volume where Luke could hear nothing but Breaking Benjamin.

He finally got to his locker and began opening it with one hand. Once that was done, he practically leaned himself inside and pulled his penguins out, placing them on top of a small pillow that was in his locker used for his penguins and only his penguins.

"Okay, we made it," Luke whispered, smiling at Puff and Pebbles. He glanced down at his phone to see that there was a few minutes left before class started. He started to fill his backpack with textbooks and notebooks for Biology, Government, and Precalculus. The books were very thick, and they left no room for Luke's penguins, much to the blond's disappointment.

Pulling out one earbud, Luke glanced around the hallway to make sure no one was looking his way. He then leaned his head inside his locker and said, "You two behave while I'm gone." He stroked the top of their heads before kissing the top of his penguins' heads. "I'll see you guys at lunch."

Once he finished talking to his penguins, Luke closed his locker and took in a deep breath. He put one earbud back into his ear and started walking down the hall. He hadn't gotten breakfast yet, so he decided to go over to the cafeteria to do get himself some breakfast pizza.

Minutes went by and he had a bagel and cream cheese in one hand and a carton of orange juice in the other. But he wasn't able to start eating or drinking before the bell rang, telling all the students to head to their first class. He groaned before stuffing his breakfast inside his backpack and began heading to his class.

There was a rule at school where electronics were not allowed during school hours. That meant Luke couldn't use his iPod to listen to music, but he didn't mind that. He was in a place filled with people--at least he wasn't entirely by himself.

Luke had another place other than school where he didn't feel alone, and that was the place he worked at. It was a music store and songs were always playing in the speakers. Of course, all stores in the shopping mall where the music store was located at had music playing all the time, but when Luke was working he was allowed to play whatever songs he wanted. Most of the time he'd be blasting rock music such as The Offspring, Breaking Benjamin, Mayday Parade, The Downtown Fiction, Fall Out Boy, and other artists. Sometimes he'd have Ed Sheeran playing, and when the shop was empty he'd put on One Direction.

The blond entered his class and sat down at his seat that was all the way in the back. Luke pushed his sleeves up past his elbows and then crossed his arms on top of his desk. He rested his chin on top of them and watched as the classroom began to be filled with students.

A sigh left Luke as he mumbled to himself, "Six more hours, and then I'm out of here."

-

Luke was quick to rush out of his Health class (yes, he had Health his last year. He didn't want to take an online course and didn't feel like taking it in his first year) and to his locker. He wormed his way past students and was pretty much running down the hall, despite a rule against specifically that.

The blond finally got to his locker, colliding with it and fingers frantically turning the lock back and forth. Once he swung open his locker, he grinned widely when seeing Puff and Pebbles in the exact same position as he had left them.

Glancing around cautiously, Luke made sure no one was even looking at him before he reached out to his stuffed penguins and hugged them close to his chest, eyes squeezed shut as a fuzzy warm feeling was inside him.

"I missed you guys," Luke said to the penguins. "Even though it was only four hours ago since I last saw you two, we have finally reunited."

As always, Puff and Pebbles didn't respond. Luke drew away from them and admired the blank looks on their faces, wide eyes looking back at him. A wider smile formed on his face and he set them back in his locker, bringing his backpack in front of him and emptying it of school textbooks.

There was enough room for his two stuffed penguins now, so Luke put Puff and Pebbles in his backpack, making sure they weren't squished or uncomfortable. He shut his locker, zipped up his backpack, and made his way over to the cafeteria.

When Luke got there, he didn't want to eat lunch, because he wanted to spend the entire time just looking at the adorable faces of his two penguins. He occupied an empty table (it was empty of people, for some strange reason--that's why it became Luke's table) and sat down at it. He set his backpack on his lap, unzipped it, and cooed at the sight of Puff and Pebbles.

Luke made sure that when he opened his backpack, it was only open at the top where only he can see his penguins. To be even more sure that no one can see his penguins, he dipped his head close to the opening of his backpack.

"Aw, look how cute you two are," Luke whispered as if the stuffed animals were babies. "Who are my cute little best friends?"

After that, he proceeded to have small talk with the penguins, complaining about how boring his classes were. The only class he did like was Biology, because, well, he was just a science person. Out of the three science classes he took in his entire high school career, he preferred Biology. Chemistry just confused him and Physics didn't interest him. He was all about the study of life.

The blond began to feel self-conscious, like someone was watching him. He pulled away from his backpack, glancing around the room to see if anyone had their eyes on him. He didn't expect anyone to notice him. After all, he was pretty much invisible. Luke was the kid who always sat in the back of the room, never participated in class, and never hung out with anyone. Ever.

But Luke was quite satisfied with what he had. He had the music on his iPod, Puff, Pebbles, and all the rest of the stuffed penguins at home. The music in his iPod kept his mood up positively ninety-six percent of the time, and the stuffed animals he had were always there to listen to him when he felt the need to vent his emotions. They might not give any advice to Luke or even talk at all, but he didn't need that. He just needed a listener, and that was enough to make him feel better.

When Luke saw that no one was even looking at him, he shrugged, turned his attention back to his penguins, and continued to just coo at their cuteness.

Luke ignored the growling in his stomach when the bell rang, meaning lunch was over. He stood up from his spot, gave his penguins a few pats to the head, closed up his backpack, swung that over his shoulder, and exited the cafeteria along with the sea of talkative students.

Luckily, Luke didn't need to bring anything to the last class of the day, which was English, so he was able to bring his penguins along. That class was even more boring than all of his classes, but he still managed to pass with an A. It wasn't that hard to him. All he had to do was understand what the hell the writers were saying in their works, and if he thought over it enough, then he got it sixty-nine percent of the time.

Yes, sixty-nine. That was the percent Luke claimed it to be. He was that specific. And dirty minded. What fun would the world be if he didn't have a dirty mind?

When Luke got to his English class, he took a seat at the back of the room (as usual) and opened up his backpack a little bit so he had a clear view of his two penguins. Students began to fill the room and take their seats, turning themselves around to chat with their friends.

Luke slumped in his seat and slowly put his hand inside his backpack, feeling the soft texture of Puff's head. His thumb brushed against said penguin's beak and he smiled, because it was soft. He just wanted to huggle (a mix of cuddle and hug) his penguins forever.

The late bell rang and the class went dead silent when the English teacher walked in. Most of the students were afraid of Mrs. Chapman, because she was one of the meanest and strictest teachers in the school. One noise out of place, and the whole class was going to feel her wrath.

This was the kind of silence Luke didn't like, but there were people around, so it made things a bit more bearable. However, he still gripped onto Puff's flipper as he felt his throat beginning to close up. He wanted to so badly gasp for air, but he didn't want to upset the teacher with noises of hyperventilation.

Finally after what seemed like forever, Mrs. Chapman finally said, "Grab a Frankenstein book off the shelf and go to the second chapter."

The blond let out a breath of relief when the students started shuffling out of their seats to go over to the bookshelf where the textbooks were located. Noise filled Luke's ears, and he was able to breathe normally again.

He let go of Puff's flipper and joined everyone else in queue for a textbook. He just had to go through this boring class first and then he'll be off to work.

-

"You're late again, Luke."

"I-I know, sir. I'm sorry. Someone in my English class pissed off my teacher and--"

"Just get to work already."

Luke sheepishly nodded before hurrying to the counter to take the female worker's place. The brunette looked at Luke before she brought her brown hair in front of her face and grimaced when she saw split ends.

"Shan, I need you to work on a few things in the storage room," said the owner of the store.

The girl grinned, her brown eyes looking at Luke for a moment before she walked past him. She flipped her hair and hit Luke in the face, making the blond snap his head to the side and rub a hand over where he was hit.

When the girl and the owner were gone, Luke listened to what was playing and frowned when hearing Fifth Harmony. He didn't have anything against the girl group. He just wanted to listen to a different song and a different artist. 

He went over to the computer that controlled the music playing in the store, searched up Evil Angel by Breaking Benjamin, and hit play. The song before had stopped abruptly and soon Luke's selection was playing throughout the store.

As the blond let out a content sigh, he gazed around the store and eyes landed on the gaping female worker. She shook her head at him, but Luke said nothing as he leaned against the counter. He heard the girl scoff before she stomped back into the backroom where she was going to change out of her work shirt and into her usual attire.

Luke was tapping his hand against the counter to the rhythm of the chorus and his eyes looked up, seeing a boy with wavy hair walk in with hands parallel to the side of face as if he was trying to keep his eyes looking forward only. Luke raised an eyebrow, wondering why he was doing that. In the end, he shrugged and walked around the counter and over to the boy to greet him.

"Hello, welcome to Eighth Notez with a Z," Luke said, a smile on his face. "If you need any help looking for anything, let me know."

Before the blond could walk away, he heard the guy grumble, "I hate going to the mall."

When he went to say something to the wavy-haired boy, he saw him walk over to the vinyls as he was grumbling incoherent words to himself. Luke narrowed his eyes at him, but said nothing as he went back behind the counter.

More customers filled the store, but Luke ignored them as he kept eyeing the boy who was searching through the records. After a while, the guy groaned and seemed annoyed as he went over to Luke.

The blond smiled. "Did you find everything okay?"

"I'm looking for a Green Day record," the boy said, eyes staring down at the counter.

Luke's smile never fell from his lips as he said, "Sorry, but we sold out of those last week. We've already ordered more, but I'm not sure when they'll come."

The boy just groaned. "Great."

"So." Luke searched around for a stack of papers and a pen, finding them and setting them in front of the boy. "If you would like for me to contact you for when the vinyls will arrive, please fill this out with your first and last name here, phone number, house number, email address, secondary email address if applicable, home address, birthday--"

"You know what? I'll just check by tomorrow and see whether you guys have it or not. Thanks, anyway." The boy excused himself and went straight for the exit, but stopped in his place.

He was blocking the only way in and out of the store and Luke rolled his eyes, walking over to the kid to see that he was staring straight ahead. Luke furrowed his eyebrows, but followed his gaze to a Forever 21 across the way.

"Yes, their clothes are great," Luke said, giving the guy a gentle push. "Now please move away from the store entrance, shop over there, and go nuts."

But the wavy-haired boy didn't respond. The blond was getting a bit annoyed and he stepped next to the guy, noticing that he was slightly shorter than Luke was.

Luke waved his hand in front of the guy. "Hello?"

That got the boy out of his unnatural trance and he shook his head, eyes looking down at the ground. "S-Sorry," he apologized. "I'll just--I'mma go now."

Before Luke could say anything else, the boy ran off, his hands once again next to his head to block his side views. The blond shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Weird kid," Luke commented.

The blond went back inside the store and saw Shan filling up the CD racks. Her eyes looked over at Luke and she randomly said, "That guy was kind of cute."

Luke raised an eyebrow. "What guy?"

"The one you were talking to earlier. He's really cute."

"Eh. I didn't really get a good look at his face."

Because Luke usually didn't pay attention to any of the customers faces when he was helping them out. They were only important to the business, but not so much to him. But if what Shan said was true, then maybe Luke should look at the guy when he comes back tomorrow. He may not know his name, but he did remember the height, his hair style, and how he oddly had his hands next to his face as he walked around.

He returned to his spot at the counter and saw that his song was over and he picked Hallelujah by Panic! at the Disco. Then he started to add a bunch of songs to the song queue, the playlist taking up his entire shift time. Shan glared at Luke for picking songs that weren't of her music taste, but eventually she started dancing to the songs and Luke may or may not have done the same.

He really liked his job at Eighth Notez. It was the only place where his phobia wouldn't be triggered because music he liked was always playing and people were always around, and even though his coworker, Shan, was rude to him most of the time the two occasionally had fun working together. They weren't friends, however. Their friendship was more like an I'm-stuck-with-you-for-three-hours-so-what-the-hell kind of thing.

Eventually their boss caught them goofing off and the two both innocently smiled at him. After the boss told them to get back to work, Luke and Shan shared a brief glance before shrugging and resuming their weird dancing, except they toned it down a bit.

Soon Luke's work hours ended and he was in the backroom, grabbing his backpack from his employee locker. He opened it up and saw his penguins looking quite comfortable where they were.

"Time to go home, guys," he whispered to them, adjusting his backpack a bit so he could give his penguins a quick kiss to the top of their heads. "We get to see the rest of the penguin family now."

But as Luke stared at Puff and Pebbles, the smile that was on his face fell and he hung his head, his chest aching a bit and a lump forming in his throat. "My only family."


	4. Chapter 3

Michael walked out of his Chemistry class, which was his last class of the day, and was on his way to his locker. When he got there, he saw a girl with brown hair nearby, arms wrapped around herself and her eyes fixed to the ground. The red-haired boy bit his lip, because he knew why she was upset. He saw what happened. Well, not all of it, but he knew.

As he got closer to his locker, the girl's eyes looked up and her hazel eyes met Michael's green ones. She showed a weak smile and waved at Michael.

"Hey, Jamie," Michael said once he was close enough. "I saw what happened this morning. I'm sorry about your rejection."

She laughed, but even Michael knew it was fake. "It's not that big of a deal. I mean, it's not like it's the first time a guy turned me down."

The red-haired boy shook his head. "That Calum guy wasn't even a good choice, anyway. I mean, all he does is go on dates and then refuses to be anyone's boyfriend. I bet he just enjoys breaking girls' hearts."

"I don't even know why I even thought I'd be his first girlfriend around here. He agreed to go on a date, and then says that I can't be his girlfriend." Jamie turned to face the locker and pressed forehead against the cold metal. "I'm an idiot."

"Don't call yourself that. He's the real idiot for not seeing how beautiful you are."

Jamie turned her head to look at Michael and gave him a halfhearted smile. "Thanks, Mikey." She was about to pull the boy in for a hug, but his eyes widened and whole body tensed and he took a step back and held his hands up in defense.

"Whoa! I don't do hugs, remember?" he reminded, chuckling nervously.

"Oh. Right. Sorry, I forgot. I gotta get home. By the way, the Sprouse twins are on their way over here."

Michael waved bye to Jamie and she walked off. He turned himself around and smiled at the siblings, Dylan and Cole. He also noticed that Dylan had a finger extended outwards and looked as if he was just about to poke the red-haired boy.

"Stop trying to poke me!" Michael yelled, a scowl on his face as he stepped back.

"Why?" Dylan snorted. "Are you going to explode or something?"

"Why are you so obsessed with wanting to poke Michael?" Cole asked. "It's like you want him to kill you or something."

"Pfft, he's not going to kill me. I'm his best friend."

"So am I, and as his best friend, I respect his wishes of not wanting to be touched."

"Emphasis on 'best friend,' Cole. Best friends are supposed to go against the other's wish as long as they don't cross the line."

Cole scoffed. "Who made up that rule?"

"It's always been the rule!"

The twins started yelling at each other and Michael did his best to ignore them, shaking his head and opening his locker. He brought his backpack in front of him, zipped that open, and started to fill his locker with school supplies he didn't need.

Once Michael finished, he closed his backpack, shut his locker, and gave the two siblings one last glance before he said something about leaving. They kept arguing to each other and Michael let out a sigh, leaving without saying anything else.

As he was about to walk off, he saw Jim wearing his football uniform making his way towards the red-haired boy. Michael gave a small smile as he greeted, "Hey, Jim."

"Hi, Michael," the football captain said, a grin on his face.

"Don't you have football practice right about now? I'm pretty sure the field is the other way."

"I know." Jim stepped closer to Michael, making the red-haired boy take one back. "I was hoping to run into you."

"Oh?" Michael raised his eyebrow that was pierced, although he had a feeling he knew what was to come.

"Okay, so the football game's this Friday, but you already knew that, yeah?"

"Yes. There are literally posters everywhere about it."

The football captain chuckled. "Right. So, are you going?"

Michael shook his head. "I never go. The bleachers are way too crowded and I can never find a place to sit, and I really don't like standing."

"Oh. Well, in that case, maybe after we win the game, I can swing by your place and pick you up so you and I can celebrate the team's victory. If you accept, that is. I'll just tell the team I can't celebrate with them."

"No, thanks." The red-haired boy's gaze went to the ground. "I just want to spend my Friday night at home."

"Well, it wouldn't hurt if I came over, would it?"

Michael found himself backing away from Jim when the taller boy get closer. "Look, I--"

"Hey, Jim!" a voice exclaimed and Michael glanced behind him to see Cole rushing over to where they were. He passed Michael and threw an arm around Jim's shoulder. "Game's on Friday, right? You don't want to miss practice, or else you guys won't win."

"We're in the middle of something," Jim growled as he glared at Cole. "Plus, I'll get to practice later. Don't boss me around."

Before Michael could speak, someone grabbed his backpack and pulled him away and he stumbled backwards, falling onto the ground bum first. He glowered up at Dylan who sheepishly smiled down at him, but then the latter boy turned his eyes to Jim.

"It's later," Dylan said as he began dragging Michael away by the hand grip of the red-haired boy's backpack. Jim didn't get to say anything before Cole started saying random things no one could care about, leading the football player in the direction of the field.

After a while of being dragged through the hall, Michael snapped, "I can walk, asshole!"

"Jeez, your friends rescue your ass from getting asked out by brawny dude for the umpteenth time this year, and this is how you repay us?" Dylan scoffed, letting go of Michael's backpack. "Next time, we won't step in. But you do owe Cole and me food now."

Michael sighed, standing up and dusting himself off. Then he mumbled, "Thanks for that, by the way."

"You know, I think it's funny how he has a crush on you."

"It's anything but funny."

"Then why don't you just turn him down?"

Michael rolled his eyes. "I do turn him down. He just never gives up."

"Oh! I can give you a list of better ways you can turn him down! You can be like a reverse sour patch kid, like so." Dylan cleared his throat got into a stance and Michael raised an eyebrow. Then Dylan said in a high pitched voice, "Aw, Jiminy, I'm flattered you like me, but you're just not attractive enough for me and I don't like you back, so leave me alone for the rest of my life, why don't you?"

The red-haired boy gaped at his blond friend. "First of all, I don't sound like that. Second, his name's Jim, not Jiminy. Last, I'm not going to put it like that!"

"Or you can lie to him and say you already have a boyfriend. You can say either Cole or I are your boyfriend."

Michael frowned. "I'm not going to lie to him like that. And he's not going to believe that I'm dating anyone."

Dylan groaned. "Then just go on one stupid date! But if you do that, then this is what's gonna happen. Let's pretend I'm Jim." He stretched his hand out at Michael.

But before they make contact, memories flashed before the red-haired boy's eyes and he gasped, immediately turning his body away and staring at his friend with wide eyes.

"Don't touch me!" he shouted, his breathing increasing along with his heartbeat.

"Exactly," the blond said, unaware he had triggered Michael's fear. "You wouldn't want to be touched by him. He's going to end up getting in your pants if you go on a date with him. You need to get through Jim's thick head that you do not want to go out. And you better do it soon or else he'll become obsessed with you."

With that, Dylan began walking off the school campus and Michael just wrapped his arms around himself, trying to calm his rapidly beating heart that quickened when he was almost physically touched by his friend.

After his breathing was back to normal, the red-head followed Dylan out of the school, the two standing outside before Michael said, "Well, I need to get home now. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay. Later, Mike," Dylan said, a wide smile on his face as he held up a fist.

All Michael did was stare down at the clenched hand, blinked, and then shook his head. He also added "No" before walking away. He felt slightly bad for leaving his friend hanging like that, but he just couldn't do give him a fist bump.

Michael didn't blame Dylan for making the red-head remember the past. He didn't know any better since Michael had never told him about it or his phobia. No one knew of it--not even his own parents.

The thing was, Michael was the kind of person who kept quiet about things, so he said nothing about the incident that happened to him--that's why no one knew of it. He didn't want anyone to look down on him. He wasn't always afraid of being touched, though. He used to be okay with it, but now he couldn't even accidentally brush against someone without wanting to freak out.

Michael made sure people didn't touch him at school, but sometimes that didn't work. There were times when someone would bump into him by mistake and he would end up snapping at that person. Michael was not a mean person. He only yelled at people to make sure they got the memo to be careful around him so they wouldn't touch him again.

But Dylan and Cole were the only friends of Michael's who didn't seem the least bit worried about touching Michael. Cole was always careful around Michael while Dylan just didn't care. He enjoyed to mess with the red-haired boy. It was fun to him, but at least he knew when he would go too far.

And then there was Jim who's been attracted to Michael for a couple of months, and only the people Michael and Jim hung out with knew that. Why the football captain even liked the red-haired boy was a mystery to everyone, but Michael hated being crushed on. It was annoying and he just wished that Jim didn't like him, like how he didn't like everyone else in the school.

Jim had been trying to get Michael to go out with him for a while, but every time Michael would reject him and the date would never happen. He just didn't like Jim in that way, but the football captain just continued to chase after Michael anyway.

Michael was the only person Jim wasn't mean to, which was strange to the red-haired boy. The guy would do almost anything to get Michael and sometimes he'd try to touch the shorter boy, but then Michael would get angry and yell at Jim who would stop, not wanting to upset Michael any further.

Speaking of that, the red-haired boy probably had the ability to make the football captain not harass Ashton if he just said something, but no. Michael kept quiet; he probably shouldn't, but he did. And every time he ignored what was happening to Ashton, he'd mentally apologize to him, even though that wouldn't do any good.

Michael decided to go to a bubble tea shop called Bubbles Corner to get himself milk tea before arriving home. Most people at his school would want to go to Starbucks, but Michael wasn't a coffee person. He preferred to drink bubble tea. Plus, it was good to him.

He walked inside the shop and saw that there wasn't even a line. Bubble tea wasn't extremely popular where he lived, and he hoped it'd stay that way. Bubble tea was the only thing he enjoyed that wasn't mainstream and he wanted to enjoy it while the prices were still low since the drink wasn't high in demand.

The red-haired boy got in line and ordered himself a milk tea, pulling out four dollars to pay for the beverage. After placing the money on top of the counter and giving his name, he gave his name to the employee and then took a seat at an empty table to wait for his drink to be made.

Michael pulled out his phone and he saw that he had a text from Cole, which just said that he'd see the red-haired boy tomorrow at school. Another text by the other twin followed and that read, 'Get home in one piece. Don't get kidnapped.'

Of course, Dylan always sent the weirdest texts, so that made Michael roll his eyes. He didn't believe he was worthy of being kidnapped. Besides, the crime rate in the town he lived in was very low. Michael knew nothing bad was going to happen to him.

When he heard his name be called, he quickly responded to the two texts with an okay and then he stuffed his phone into his pocket, walking towards where his drink was being placed on top of the counter. He thanked the person, picked up a straw, and walked out of the place.

The first thing Michael did when he got home was go to the kitchen. He set his milk tea on top of the kitchen island and began to take off his leather jacket, but his eyes landed on a sticky note on the marble counter. He furrowed his eyebrows as he picked up said note and read it aloud.

"'Michael, your father and I will be back late. There's pizza in the refrigerator. It's your dinner.'" The red-haired boy sighed, shaking his head before placing his backpack on top of the kitchen island. With his straw, he poked a hole through the seal of his drink and took a quick sip out of the milk tea.

He rushed up to his room to grab his laptop, bringing it downstairs to the kitchen where he planned to work on homework. For some reason, he just preferred to do homework in the kitchen rather than in his room. It was just a better environment for him--no explanation behind it.

Michael pulled up his music playlist from YouTube, which mostly consisted of guitar covers done by this Korean kid named Sungha Jung. The guy was a prodigy when it came to finger style guitar, and Michael envied his skills. He would love to learn how to play guitar like Sungha did.

The red-haired boy started to work on his Maths homework as Sungha Jung's guitar cover of Billie Jeans began playing. He had his head resting in the palm of his left hand, the arm propped up on top of the counter. He was scribbling down the work for his homework and even struggled to figure out how to solve some of the problems. Once in a while, he'd text Dylan for help, since the two had the same class together.

His phone beeped and he assumed it was Dylan responding since the blond hadn't replied yet, so he picked up his phone, but frowned when seeing it was Jim trying to convince him to go out.

A groan left him and he rubbed the side of his head. He flipped his phone over so it was facing down and turned it to silent.

"Stop texting me," Michael grumbled as he returned to finishing his homework. Cole once suggested to block Jim from ever contacting him via phone, but when that happened the football captain found other ways to get to Michael's phone, so he just gave up on doing that.

Sungha Jung's cover of Thinking Out Loud started playing and Michael smiled, turning up the volume a bit. He hummed to himself as he was nearly done with homework, only skipping three problems he didn't understand. He stuffed his homework inside his textbook and picked up his phone, pressing the lock button.

Michael completely forgot that he had a bunch of unread texts and he didn't know why he even gave his number to the football captain. He regretted doing so, though. Michael also noticed that he got a text from Dylan, but the blond was useless since he just responded with that stupid shruggie. The red-haired boy responded with a simple 'fuck your shruggie' and then put his Maths book back inside his backpack.

The milk tea was starting to become more diluted as the ice in the drink was melting, so Michael picked up the cup and began mixing it so the flavor would be a bit stronger. He finished half of the drink before setting it down, hopping off the counter, and going over to the refrigerator to get the pizza his mom put inside.

As he waited for his dinner to heat up, Michael went back over to his laptop, stopping his Sungha Jung playlist and looking up PewDiePie. He decided to click on the video of the YouTuber playing a game called Catherine, which was about the main character cheating on his girlfriend with another girl and also having dreams about climbing blocks in order to survive, because apparently if the main character fell in his dream before waking up, he would die in real life.

Once his dinner had been heated up, Michael placed it on top of the kitchen island next to his laptop. He finished the rest of his bubble tea drink and proceeded to eat his dinner while watching PewDiePie do a boss level (and the boss looked a bit disturbing, too).

When he finished eating the pizza, Michael's phone began ringing and the red-haired boy hesitantly picked it up, praying it wasn't Jim. He let out a relieved sigh when seeing it was Cole. He answered the phone immediately, "Hey, Cole."

"Dude," Cole began, "Dylan and I are at Walmart and we're chilling in the McDonald's inside and this one lady near the self-checkout area is going ape shit at this Walmart employee, because the lady's son was stealing and the employee stopped him and the lady is upset about the employee confronting her son who's apparently sixteen, but he looks freaking twenty."

"It's fucking entertaining!" Michael heard the other twin say.

Cole laughed. "She keeps repeating the same thing over and over again, but her argument is invalid. This has been going on for ten minutes. Things don't seem to be ending any time soon. The customer lady is dropping curse words and stuff while the employee is trying to reason with her."

The red-haired boy couldn't help but laugh. "I actually want to see this. Get Dylan to record it and show it to me tomorrow."

"That's rude, but so is the lady, so whatever." Cole began to tell his older twin brother to get a video of what was happening, and Michael stood up from where he was sitting, closed his laptop, and went to his room.

"Aw, man," Dylan groaned and the red-haired boy raised an eyebrow. "Another employee guy stepped in and broke up the whole thing before I could even hit record."

Michael shrugged. "Whatever. It's not that important, anyway. I'm not going to die, just because I can't see this happen."

"True," Cole said. "Anyway, I'm gonna go. Talk to you tomorrow, Mike."

After that, Michael hung up his phone and set it on top of his dresser. He felt like taking a shower, so he opened the dresser and pulled out shorts, boxers, and a T-shirt. Then he walked out of his room to head to the bathroom, but then he saw another person standing in front of his door.

"Oh, my shit!" Michael screamed as he fell to the ground, his clothes lying next to him and his hand gripping the shirt over his racing heart.

"Michael!" his mom exclaimed. "I am so sorry! I did not mean to frighten you."

"I thought you were going to be back late!"

"I forgot something and needed to grab them before I head back to work. I was also going to check up on you, too." She reached out to her son, but Michael's eyes widened and he backed himself away.

"N-No! Stay away!" he shouted, curling into himself. "Don't touch me!"

His mom sighed, a pang of hurt in her chest. She tried to hold back the tears from being rejected by her own son as she said softly, "Are you sure you're okay, baby?"

"I-It's nothing, mum. I really am fine." Michael shakily picked up his clothes and stood up. "I just don't want to be touched, okay? Please, respect that."

There was a pained look on her face, Michael saw, but he ignored it as he asked his mom to step aside so he could take a shower. He squeezed his way past her, making sure he didn't touch her, and then hurried to the bathroom. He locked himself inside and dropped his clothes on the floor, his back pressed to the door as he slid down.

His heart was beating quickly and he was trying his best to calm down and get his heart rate to go back to normal. When Michael finally relaxed, he wrapped his arms around himself as his body trembled, small tears forming at the corners of his eyes.

Seeing his mother to make an appearance at his room door was something Michael did not expect, since she said that she and his dad would be home late. And the fact that he almost bumped into her on his way out made shivers go up and down his spine.

Michael absolutely hated and was terrified of being touched. He had been for three years and kept everyone from touching him.

Because every single time someone touched or tried to touch the red-haired boy, he was reminded of _that_.

And _that_ had scarred Michael forever.


	5. Chapter 4

"We only went out once," Calum said. "Don't act like I'm your boyfriend, Jamie."

"But when I asked if you wanted to go out on a date with me, you said yes," responded the girl, tears starting to fill her eyes.

"Exactly. I agreed to go on a date, but I never said I'd be your boyfriend. I just don't want to be in a relationship right now, okay? I had fun on the date, though."

Jamie dropped her face in her hands and sobbed, pushing past Calum and running down the hall. She bumped into a kid with wavy hair who glanced in Calum's direction. The brunet avoided his gaze, keeping his eyes downward as he let out a sigh and combed his fingers through his hair. Then he turned the other direction from where Jamie ran off and left.

Calum was used to this kind of thing--going on a date with a girl and then telling her he wasn't looking for a relationship at the moment. The usual response was the girl crying and running off, but there was this one time where he did get slapped and the girl snapped at him, blaming him for 'leading her on.'

Despite what the girl said to him, Calum didn't believe that he was leading anyone on. All he did was agree to go on a date and that's it. He didn't even flirt with any of the girls. He treated them as if they were friends. In all honesty, to him all of his dates seemed more like two friends hanging out more than anything, except the other person was being more clingy and flirty to him.

Then the next day after whatever date he'd been on, the person would confess to him or act as if they're officially together and he'd turn them down and say they weren't dating and that he'd rather be friends. But who'd want to be around someone who rejected them after a confession? There were probably some people in the world like that, but so far none of them went to the same school as Calum did.

As he was walking down the hallways, Calum stuffed his hands in his pockets and ignored the stares that were on him from others. People began whispering, like they were afraid he'd overhear them, but Calum honestly couldn't care less about what anyone thought--even if it was about him.

To him, whatever people thought about him was irrelevant. He knew that people considered him as a player, since he went out on so many dates, but he never saw himself as one. A player was someone who has had sex with multiple people. He was still a virgin, but a lot of people find that hard to believe whenever he would admit he hadn't lost his virginity.

Calum decided to go straight to his first class, because he didn't feel like doing anything else and he had no friends to talk to. Of course, there were some people he spoke to in class, but it was only because they shared the same class and that was about it. Outside they never hung out once and they didn't know a lot about each other, but it didn't matter to Calum.

He preferred not to get too close to anyone, anyway.

As he walked inside the classroom he saw that there were other students there as well, sitting in groups and just chatting with one another. Their eyes glanced over at Calum and suddenly everyone fell silent. Even the teacher who was at his desk typing away had stopped his work.

The brunet was about ready to snap at everyone to mind their own business, but he decided to keep his mouth shut and go sit at his desk. He could handle a couple of stares. It wasn't like they were going to affect him in any way.

Once Calum sat down and got himself comfortable, a guy walked over to him with a smirk on his face. Upon seeing him, the brunet just stared blankly at him.

"Hey, Cal," the guy said. "Did you and Jamie frickle frackle in bed after the date?"

"No, Arthur," Calum grumbled. "I didn't frickle frackle with anyone and I've no intention to."

"How can you not have sex? It's the best thing in the world."

The brunet rolled his eyes. "Because unlike you, I don't carelessly have sex. As lame and cliche as it sounds, I want to have sex with someone I want to spend the rest of my life with."

In other words, he never wanted to have sex, because that someone didn't exist. He wasn't going to fall in love, and he never would be in love. Ever.

-

The day went by like usual for Calum. A new person would come up to Calum and they would ask a few things about the brunet, but he'd never give away too much about himself. He didn't want anyone using anything against him, in case they planned on backstabbing him.

Rumors didn't bother him, because as long as he knew the truth, nothing else meant anything to him. If someone were to ask/demand him to verify a rumor, he would just shrug and not say anything. Last time he tried to clear up a rumor, no one believed him, so what was the point in telling people the truth when they would rather believe the lie?

Even when he responded that way, people would believe the rumors even more. He didn't admit to anything, though. In fact, he didn't say anything, yet people claimed he confirmed just because he didn't deny anything. Calum not denying the rumor was not even close to evidence that whatever the rumor might be was true, but for some reason people had a hard time understanding that.

People were idiots to Calum, and that was one of the many reasons why he didn't like people.

Of course, there had to be some people who weren't gullible enough to believe rumors so stupid as Calum having sex with a kitten because he was sexually frustrated. First of all, bestiality wasn't something Calum wanted to think about; and second of all, why would anyone think Calum was desperate for sex when he turned down so many other people he went out with who wanted it?

A rumor about Calum almost always started the day after the brunet refused to be his date's boyfriend. He felt like the person he rejected or someone acquainted with them might have sparked up a rumor, but he didn't want to jump to conclusions just yet. Anyone could have started it, really. It just seemed a bit odd that it wasn't long after breaking someone's heart. (The rumor with Calum having sexual intercourse with a cat happened after the brunet turned down a person who had an obsession over cats. Coincidence?)

There was one rumor that Calum knew for a fact was started by a guy, just because the brunet attracted ninety percent of the female population. Honestly, there was nothing about Calum to be jealous about, in his opinion. If anything, being the interest of many people was a curse to him. He never boasted about being crushed on, because what was to brag about if he didn't like it?

One thing Calum didn't understand was why anyone wanted to like anyone? A majority of the time, it ended badly. Most relationships he knew of always ended and those two people who claimed to be so in love never spoke to each other again. For example, his parents, but what happened with them was one of the two things Calum hated to talk or think about.

Calum had just finished his last class of the day and was the first person to leave the classroom, since he didn't want to deal with anyone. When he entered the hallway, he noticed how people were moving out of his way as if he was Moses and they were the Red Sea. He found it funny how some people were looking at him like he committed crimes.

His class was on the second floor, so he went down the flight of stairs to get to the first floor and the first thing he saw was Jim in his football uniform talking to a guy with red hair and armband tattoos.

The brunet was very much aware that the football captain had practice at this time and should be on the field rather than chatting around. But the thing was, Calum knew about Jim's crush on the red-haired boy. No, no one told him. He figured it out on his own and not a soul even knew that Calum knew.

Calum was able to tell when a person was crushing on someone just by looking at their expressions and actions. Since he came to the school, the brunet noticed how Jim would always be fidgety whenever he was around the red-haired boy and was only kind towards him. He also saw the fond or lustful looks he'd have, but whatever happened between Jim and the other guy was none of Calum's business.

He found it sad and amusing how whipped the football captain was over the red-haired boy. It was pretty clear to Calum that the shorter boy didn't return Jim's feelings and that Jim had no chance with the redhead. And no matter how many times the red-haired boy turned Jim away, the latter boy just wasn't taking that as an answer.

Things weren't going to end well for Jim, Calum knew that. But at least it wasn't the Kiwi boy whose heart was going to get broken, and nothing mattered to him if he had nothing to do with it.

The brunet turned around and walked away the moment he saw some blond kid step in between Jim and his crush. He just wanted to go home and sleep until supper time. Yeah, he had homework, but it wasn't a problem if he didn't let it be one. He didn't even plan on doing it.

As Calum exited the school, he grimaced when he saw a couple making out not too far from him. He could practically hear them sucking their faces off and it wasn't a pleasant sound. For some reason, he couldn't help but look when the two pulled away and pressed their foreheads together.

"I love you," the girl said.

"I love you, too," the boy replied.

"Nope," Calum said to himself as he cringed and turned his back to them, walking in the direction of his house.

He felt chills go up his spine and he tried to ignore them, but he ended up shivering anyway. He honestly didn't understand why couples felt the need to show a lot of affection out in the open. Were they trying to rub it in all the single people's faces that they (the couple) were in a relationship? Probably, probably not. But Calum was pretty sure they could go some place more secretive.

Well, no one cared about his opinions or how he felt, so he wouldn't say anything to those couples who looked like they were having sex in public. He'd just make some side comment and go back to what he was doing before.

The good thing about where Calum lived was that it was close to the school, so it only took him five minutes to get in between the two different locations. He didn't like walking all that much, and living close to school was perfect.

He got home and the first thing he did was head to his room, but not before hearing his dad call out his name. Calum groaned and went to the room his dad was in, seeing that he was walking around the room and collecting his stuff.

"Hello, Calum," his dad greeted without glancing at his son.

Calum leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest while he pressed the sole of his foot to the wall. He stared down at the ground and mumbled, "Hi, Dad."

"How was school?"

"Fine. I've had better days."

There was silence above them before his dad finally said, "Anything you want for dinner?"

Calum shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe some Chinese food? I think I could really go for some fried noodles right now."

His dad nodded and stood up from where he was sitting. "I'm going to a meeting right now. I'll be back around seven this evening with some fried noodles."

Calum's dad glanced down at his wristwatch and added, "I really have to go now. You'll be home alone until I get back. You know the rules."

"Don't need to remind me." The brunet boy stepped away from the wall to go back on his way to his room.

"Stay safe, Calum. I love you."

Calum stopped walking and stood frozen where he was. He slowly turned to look at his dad before curtly nodding his head. "Yeah, I know."

Without waiting any longer, the brunet hurried to his room, closing the door and locking it. He dropped his backpack on the ground and then made his way over to the bed, removing his jeans and plopping front first on top of his bed.

Even though the kind of love his dad said meant family, Calum couldn't bring himself to say it back. He hadn't said those three words together since what happened, because last time he did something heartbreaking happened.

He honestly had no intention on ever saying those words in the same sentence again.

-

Calum fell asleep and was woken up to knocking on his door. He slowly sat up and rubbed sleepily at his eyes, standing up from his bed and walking over to the door. He opened it and didn't see anyone, but he did see a takeaway box along with a can of Coca-Cola sitting right in front of him.

He could smell the fried noodles and he smiled, knowing his dad had brought him the food. He reached down to grab the box and soda can, but he also felt something else against his fingers. Furrowing his eyebrows, he turned the box around saw a sticky note with his dad's penmanship on it.

_I went back to work and I won't be back until tomorrow. I know your eighteen, but behave while I'm gone. Love you.  
Dad._

"It's 'you're.' With an 'e' at the end and a fucking apostrophe," Calum grumbled, stepping back inside his room and ripping the sticky note off of the box. His eyes glared at the L word, and then he shredded the paper into pieces and dropped it in the trash bin near his desk, some paper pieces not making it in.

Calum went to sit down at his desk and put the takeaway box and Coca-Cola can down. He then realized that he didn't have anything to eat the food, so he let out an annoyed sigh as he got up and left his room to go to the kitchen.

He searched through the drawer filled with eating utensils and found himself a fork. His eyes landed on the refrigerator and he just stared at it for a while.

"Some oyster sauce for my food should be good," he said, walking over to the fridge and opening it up. His eyes gazed over the tons of sauces that his dad thought it was a good idea to buy before he finally found what he was looking for.

A smile formed on his face as he pulled out the bottle of oyster sauce and headed back up to his room. Once at his room, he went over to his desk and balanced the fork on top of the bottle so he could have free hands to open the box that had his dinner inside.

Three minutes of adding the sauce and mixing it in the noodles, Calum was finally eating his dinner and he smiled at the taste. He opened up the soda can and took a couple of large gulps, already finishing half of the drink. His stomach was already full, but he didn't like the idea of wasting food, so he forced himself to eat the rest of his dinner.

Once his takeaway box was free of noodles, Calum pushed the said box aside and grabbed a hold of his soda can, leaning back in his chair and chugging the rest of the carbonated beverage down. He heard his phone vibrate from somewhere and he glanced down at the ground, seeing his jeans and a light shining through the small holes of it.

He stood from his spot and kneeled down in front of his jeans, digging through the right pocket and locating his cellular device. Staring down at the screen that's set to the lowest brightness, Calum furrowed his eyebrows when seeing a text from an unknown number.

**[From: Unknown]  
calum?**

Calum didn't plan on responding to the person, so he walked back over to his desk and set his phone facing down against the flat surface. He drank the rest of his soda before crushing the sides of the can and placing it inside the empty takeaway box.

Getting himself comfortable in his seat once again, Calum reached for his phone and looked through it for apps he wanted to play. But when his eyes caught sight of a picture that was sitting behind a pencil holder, he locked his phone and grabbed the picture, staring at it.

He couldn't bring himself to look away from the picture, no matter how hard he tried to get his eyes to turn away. He felt a breaking feeling in his heart as it fell to his stomach, a lump forming in his throat as tears started to develop at the corners of his eyes. He had the strongest urge to scream, tear his room apart, pretty much just break down.

But Calum didn't want to do that. He took in many deep breaths to calm himself down, placing the picture back where it was hidden and leaned way back in his seat, bringing his arm over his eyes. When he let out another breath, it was more shaky like he was trying his best to not cry.

The picture brought him painful memories, but it also held happy ones, too. He told himself many times that he would get rid of the picture because most of the time it was unbearable for him to even look at, but he could never make himself to do that. It was all that he had physically left of what used to be his sunshine in the darkest of his times, what made him the happiest person in the world at that time, and what made him become the person that he was today.

Calum got up from his seat and lay down on his bed, wiping away whatever tears that hadn't fallen from his eyes yet. He wasn't going to go through this again. He refused to let himself go through this again. What happened to him in the past shouldn't be worth the tears he almost shed now.

Yet he couldn't help but feel the brokenhearted feeling in his chest as he buried his face in his pillow. A choked sob sounded from his lips and he wrapped his arms around the fluffy cushion.

This was the pain he hated to feel, but he felt it every night whenever he looked at that picture he had of his used-to-be sunshine. One would've thought that he would be used to the pain by now, but it seemed to Calum that it only hurt him more.

His heart was already broken into a million pieces, but each piece multiplied into even more smaller pieces, making Calum seem like a person with a cold heart when really his heart was more like figuratively dying in the most emotionally painful way.

"I hate myself so much," Calum mumbled.

Because it was true. He didn't know why anyone could possibly like him. There was nothing about him to like, he believed. No one at the school he attended ever liked him for who he was, but how could they know anything about him when all he did was push everyone away before they got too close.

Yeah, he went out on dates with people, but it was all to temporarily erase the pain he felt in his chest. But he'd end things immediately if he felt like he was beginning to open himself up to anyone. He didn't want anyone to know about him, because once someone knew more about him he would get attached. And when he got attached, he would start to develop feelings. And when he grew feelings, he would fall in love.

Falling in love wasn't even on the list of things Calum wanted to do.

He wasn't going to get involved with love. Not again. Not ever.

He was beginning to feel the same pain he didn't want to feel again and he really needed something to get his mind off of it. His mind went back to the unknown who had sent him a text earlier. He assumed it was someone from school who had asked someone for his number.

So he wiped his eyes dry and went to his phone, opening it up and going back to the text he had received. He messaged the person to call him for whatever they needed and he waited for a response.

About a minute later his phone was buzzing, indicating that someone was calling him. He saw that it was the same number and he answered.

"Hello?" he said into the phone.

"Hi. Um, this is Calum, right?" said a timid female voice.

"It sure is."

"I-It was rude of me to get your number without your permission. Anyway, my name's Cheryl, and I'm actually in your Physics class. I was wondering if you wanted to go somewhere with me."

"Only once," Calum answered without hesitation. "When?"

"This Friday at the football game. It's just, well, my friend was supposed to go with me but she ditched me for her boyfriend and I d-didn't want to go alone. You were the first person that came to mind."

Calum nodded, even though Cheryl couldn't see him. He tried to remember a Cheryl in his class, but nothing rang a bell. He decided that he'd just have to find out when he goes to school tomorrow.

"So," Cheryl went on, "Friday after school, meet up in front of our Physics class?"

"Whatever," the brunet said.

"Great! Okay, bye, lov--Calum! Bye, Calum!"

"Later."

The phone call ended there. It took his mind off of things for a while, but it wasn't enough. He needed something more. Something that'd make him forget his problems for the night at least.

He came to the conclusion that he needed to get himself drunk, so he threw on his jeans, made sure he had his phone and wallet, and left the house to go to the local bar. And sure, Calum might get a hangover so bad he'd have to skip school, but that didn't matter to him.

Nothing mattered to him at the moment. All he wanted to do was forget, and if Calum could get himself to temporarily forget the pain in his already broken heart, then everything else could get fucked for all he cared.


	6. Chapter 5

Ashton was almost afraid to tell Lauren that the store didn't have any Green Day vinyls. But when he did, she wasn't mad at all. She seemed understanding and Ashton was relieved his sister didn't go crazy.

But he almost skipped school the next day, because his sister had left him a present in front of his room door and when he opened it, he screamed. He scurried back to his bed, his back against the corner of the walls while tears were forming in his eyes as he pleaded for someone to help him.

The eyes of the doll named Quinn stared back at him and Ashton felt like someone was squeezing his throat, as if to keep him from breathing. He had his hands covered over his mouth and nose and he couldn't look away from the doll.

Lauren had already left for school while Ashton was trapped in his room. He'd much rather deal with Jim than be stuck in his room because a doll was blocking the only way in and out of his room, and that was saying a lot.

Finally, his mom appeared at the entrance of Ashton's room. She rubbed at her eyes sleepily and then gazed down at the doll that was facing her son before looking over at Ashton who was cowering at the corner.

"Really," she said as she sighed, picking up the doll like it was nothing and just staring at it. "It's just a doll."

"But, Mum!" Ashton exclaimed. "You know how much they scare me!"

"Actually, I don't know, but whatever. I'll just put this back in Lauren's room." With Quinn in her hold, she walked away from Ashton's room.

The wavy-haired boy hesitantly got off his bed, his eyes staring at the spot the doll was on. As he approached the area, he jumped over it and then scurried down the hall to get to the bathroom.

Once there, he only brushed his teeth and ran his fingers through his hair, not wanting to waste any more time getting ready for school. He had about half an hour left before first class started and he didn't want to get detention for being late.

After brushing his teeth, he ran back to his room, but not without skipping over the spot Quinn was sitting in for God knew how long. He stripped out of his pajamas and pulled on a pair of dark blue skinny jeans. He picked out a shirt that said Weekend Warrior on it and grabbed a pair of black socks as well. He then went over to where his backpack was and shoved all the school supplies he needed inside.

He slung his backpack over his shoulder and ran out of his room (of course, jumping over the same spot) and rushed to the front door. For a brief moment, he saw that his mom was walking out of the kitchen with a mug of hot coffee in her hand.

"Have a good day at school, Ash," she said with a smile. "Give me a hug and kiss before you leave."

"Did you wash your hands after touching the doll?" he asked while slipping on his black Vans, looking back at his mother. "With lots of soap and water?"

Letting out an irritated sigh, she said, "Yes, I did. Plenty of soap and plenty of water, dear."

Once he finally got his shoes on, he went over to his mom, wrapping one arm around her as she did the same with him. He quickly gave her a kiss on the cheek and then hurried over to the door. "I gotta go now! I don't want to be late!" He picked up his car keys that were hanging off the wall, opened the door, and walked out.

"Drive safely!" his mom called out before the door closed and Ashton went straight to his car. He unlocked it and jumped into the driver's seat, practically shoving the key into the ignition and bringing the car to life. He didn't bother waiting for the car to warm up, since he was in a hurry. Usually, he did, but just not this one time. He put the car in reverse, backed out of the driveway, and drove to school.

Ashton arrived to school ten minutes before the bell, but the first bell to tell everyone to go to class had already rung. He didn't have enough time to put the books he had in his backpack inside his locker, so he settled with doing that during passing period from first to second. He hurried to his first class, but his eyes spotted Jim and he froze in place.

Thankfully, Jim was busy with trying to have a conversation with a boy with red hair who had his back to the lockers and his arms crossed over his chest. Ashton sighed in relief, glad he finally had one morning where he didn't have to deal with the bully. But the redhead's green eyes met Ashton's for a brief moment.

Before Jim could bring a hand up to the shorter boy's cheek, the redhead flinched away and quickly said, "Hey, isn't that the one kid you mess with every day?"

"What?" Jim asked, glancing around. "Where?"

When the boy with Jim looked back over at Ashton, the latter boy pleaded silently for him to not say anything.

"He, uh, I just saw him go to the boy's restroom," said the redhead as he pointed in the direction of the restroom.

Jim's eyes landed at the entrance to the restroom that happened to be far away from where Ashton really was. He said to the shorter boy that he'd be right back and ran off, calling his friends over to follow him.

Ashton let out a breath, placing his hand over his heart that was beating hard in fear he had to deal with Jim. He hurried down the hall to get to his first class, but he heard the redhead say, "You're welcome, by the way."

He was grateful that the guy didn't tell Jim where he really was, but he didn't like how he had to bring him up to his bully. So Ashton didn't say anything or even give him one glance as he went straight to class. He just wanted to get through one day without being made fun of for his phobia, and even though it was just the morning, so far things were going well.

-

The day went by so well. Ashton managed to stay out of sight from Jim and it was now lunch time. After lunch, he only had one class left and then he would be able to go to the Eighth Notez to check if the Green Day vinyl was available yet.

His fourth period was Maths and in that class he had to take a quiz the teacher surprised everyone with. He didn't understand the lesson too well, so he ended up taking the entire class time along with a few minutes after the lunch bell.

But as he was walking out of his Maths class and heading to the cafeteria, he saw a guy sitting on the ground with his back against the wall and legs extended out and crossed at the ankles. He was wearing a jacket with his hood over his head and his arms were crossed over his chest, his head tilted to the left side a bit.

Curious, Ashton went closer to see who the person was and he caught sight of some dark brown hair. He leaned over to get a better view of the person's face and recognized the sleeping student as Calum Hood.

The first thing Ashton did was stand up straight, stepping back and away from the brunet. He really didn't want to have anything to do with Calum. In honesty, Ashton was just as intimidated of Calum as he was of Jim. Something about the dark-haired boy sent chills up and down his spine.

As he was about to turn around and walk off to his car, he saw the redhead from this morning with two other people who appeared to be twins. They were walking towards Ashton and the trio didn't seem to be the least bit aware of Calum taking a snooze on the ground.

Before the wavy-haired boy could warn the three friends about Calum's presence, the one with red hair managed to trip over the brunet, yelling out, "Shit!"

"Michael!" one of the twins yelled out as the other gasped.

Ashton didn't have time to react before Michael landed face first to the ground. At the sound of the impact, he winced and then hurried over to the fallen boy, kneeling down beside him.

"Are you okay?" Ashton asked as Michael was helping himself up. Ashton extended his hand out at the redhead, but immediately retracted when the latter boy yelped and began using his legs to push himself away.

"Don't touch me!" Michael shouted, but then he cleared his throat, standing up and dusting himself off. His eyes lingered towards the ground and his arms wrapped around himself. "I-I'm fine."

"Michael, you look a little frightened," said a friend of Michael's. "You sure you're okay?"

"I'm okay, Cole. Let's just--Can we go now?"

Cole turned to his brother and they both simultaneously shrugged before following the red-haired boy down the hall towards the canteen.

Ashton was just about to head out as well before he heard someone say, "That was kind of interesting, wasn't it?"

The wavy-haired boy looked down to see Calum staring back at him. The brunet bent his knees and helped himself up, running his hand through his hair and making the hood fall off his head.

"I, uh--" Ashton was at a loss for words. Despite what Calum said to him being a simple yes or no question, Ashton wasn't sure how to respond to it.

"Well, since I'm wide awake now, I'm going to head off elsewhere." Calum began walking away without saying anything else to Ashton.

Ashton was about to head on to the cafeteria as well until he spotted Jim and two other football players not too far ahead. They were standing before Michael and his twin friends and the football captain didn't seem to notice Ashton at all.

"Not now, Jim," Michael said with a sigh. "I want to get myself lunch."

"We can get lunch elsewhere. We've got plenty of time and the place my friends and I are heading off to isn't too far of a walk."

"First of all, I don't want to walk farther than I plan to to get whatever the hell the place you're heading to sells. Second, I already said no!"

"Just one lunch."

"No means no!"

"Go away, Jim," said one of the twins as he placed his hand on the football captain's shoulder, only to get roughly shoved aside and fall to the ground.

"Dylan!" gasped Cole before glaring at Jim. "What the hell's wrong with you?!"

But Jim ignored the twins as he approached Michael, making the redhead back up against the wall. Ashton wanted to so badly interfere, but he didn't want to be bothered by Jim.

As Ashton was beginning to walk away backwards from the scene, he saw Jim reach one hand out at Michael who gasped and practically pressed himself against the wall, looking as if he wanted to disappear right into it.

Before Jim could even put his hand on the side of the redhead's face, Michael managed to slip away so he was no longer in between the football captain and the wall. "I told you a million times not to touch me!"

"I didn't even touch you yet," Jim pointed out.

"But you were going to!"

"It's just a stroke to the cheek."

"Still, no!" Michael once again began backing away from the football captain. "Stop! Dylan, Cole--"

Ashton squeaked when a blond running past him brushed his arm against the wavy-haired boy's. He noticed that the person had his backpack in front of him and was looking down at it, not paying attention to where he was going.

He should've looked up, because the next thing that happened the boy collided with Michael and the two ended up falling to the ground and the blond's backpack skidded away.

"What the fuck!" Jim yelled.

The boy who had fallen on top of Michael pulled himself up but was still straddling the redhead and even had his hands pressing down on Michael's wrists to the ground.

"I am so sorry!" the blond apologized. "I wasn't looking where I was going--"

"Get off me!" Michael screamed, his widened eyes shutting tightly as he turned his head to the side. "Get off, get off, get off!"

"But I--"

"Please, get off!"

The boy quickly scrambled onto his feet and Michael curled into a ball, pulling his knees to his chest. The blond went on, "I really am sorry, though. I didn't mean to run into you."

"You little shit!" Jim yelled, pushing the blond against the wall. Ashton was now able to see the guy's face and he looked awfully familiar. "I'll kill you!"

"It was an accident, I swear!" the blond said.

"What was so important in your backpack you can't watch where you're going?!" Jim glared over at his two friends as if signalling for them to get the backpack.

The blond gasped. "No, please! Don't! You'll hurt--"

"Leave him alone!"

The football captain and his friends turned their attention to Ashton who almost regretted saying anything in the first place, but he wasn't going to let Jim pummel another person who didn't mean any harm. He may have been trying to avoid Jim for the entire day, but sometimes he just had to risk his own well-being just for others.

Jim immediately dropped the blond, the latter boy falling to the ground. Dylan and Cole went over to Michael and tried to help him up, but the redhead immediately snapped at them to not get any closer and then ran off.

"There you are, Doll Boy," Jim said with this evil grin on his face. Ashton gulped when he and the other two football players began approaching. Ashton tried to get his legs to move, but they wouldn't listen to him and he was stuck in place.

The next thing he knew his arms were gripped onto violently by Jim's friends and the foobtall captain was now standing right in front of Ashton.

"You missed your appointment this morning, you know," Jim said, his smirk growing wider, "but I'm okay with doing it now, since you're here." He looked over to his friends. "Let's go."

Then the trio were walking down the hall with Ashton being dragged behind them. The wavy-haired boy looked over to see the twins were gone, but the blond boy who ran into Michael was looking at Ashton, watching him being taken away.

When the football players turned at the corner, Ashton no longer saw the blond and he knew that no one was going to help him. He pretty much asked for Jim to bully him all for some person he didn't even know. Ashton was just like that and it was just one of those things about himself that he didn't like.

He could stand up for anyone else, but he couldn't stand up for himself.

-

Ashton had his back to the wall and his face buried in his knees, silently crying to himself.

Currently it was fifth period and he was stuck in the janitor's closet with a stuffed panda tied to the doorknob. The exact same thing happened two years ago, yet he felt no different than he did the first time it happened.

The only differences were, two years ago the panda was sitting close to him and the janitor was working that day. Said janitor was out that day, so unless Ashton planned on getting over his fear (which was pretty much impossible for him to do), he had no way of getting out of the closet.

After a while, he heard the bell ring again, meaning fifth period had ended and the poor boy had missed an entire class of French. He also had to get to the music store for his sister, but he couldn't, because he was stuck inside the closet.

When a few minutes after the bell rang passed, the doorknob jiggled and Ashton wanted to so badly look up, but then he'd be looking at the panda and he couldn't stand the sight of the stuffed animal. Most people would find stuffed animals adorable, but not Ashton. They were just as bad as plastic dolls to him.

"You in there?" asked a voice. Ashton, even though his face was pressed to his wet-from-tears knees, he furrowed his eyebrows. He didn't understand why anyone would ask if someone was inside the janitor's closet. It didn't make sense to Ashton at all.

Before the wavy-haired boy could even respond, the sound of someone walking away was heard and Ashton figured whoever was on the other side of the door had given up on trying to open it up. Yeah, he was going to be stuck in the closet for God knows how long.

It didn't take long for Ashton to hear someone coming back to the door, the knob once again turning from side to side. He heard the sound of something clicking and then the door was swung open.

The person cleared his throat and Ashton glanced, but he didn't get to look at the guy's face before his eyes saw the panda staring back at him and he couldn't bring himself to look away. Its beady eyes were staring right into his soul and Ashton wanted to cry again.

He felt hands grab onto his arm and he was being pulled out of the closet. Ashton whimpered when he had to get closer to the panda in order to get out, but he began to relax once he and the guy passed the stuffed toy.

The guy who had just taken the wavy-haired boy out of the closet stepped in between Ashton and the panda and eventually the latter boy looked up to see the same blond who ran into Michael earlier at lunch.

"Are you okay?" asked the blond boy who looked as if he was taller by three inches. "I would've come to your rescue sooner, but those jerks were standing in front of the closet door the entire lunch time and I didn't want to deal with them."

Ashton nodded, taking in the blond's appearance. His blond hair was flat against his forehead and a navy blue beanie was on his head. A lip ring was nicely pierced on the left side of his bottom lip and when he gave Ashton a smile, small dimples formed on his cheeks. He had never seen the guy before at school, but he knew he had seen him somewhere before.

The blond walked back inside the janitor's closet and the shorter boy squeezed his eyes shut before he could see the panda again. A few seconds later, he heard the door slamming shut and sensed the other boy's presence in front of him again and slowly opened his eyes, seeing that the blond was holding Ashton's backpack.

The wavy-haired boy took the backpack and muttered a small thank you to him before putting his backpack on.

"I'm Luke," the guy said, holding his hand out at Ashton who just stared down at it before looking up at Luke's face again.

"You, uh, didn't touch the... panda, did you?" the wavy-haired boy asked hesitantly.

Luke shook his head. "I didn't touch it. I just saw it, but I didn't touch it."

Again, Ashton nodded and finally took Luke's hand in his and shook it. "Ashton."

"Nice to meet you." Luke let go of Ashton's hand and reached down for his backpack that was sitting by the wall on the ground. From the corner of his eye, Ashton could see the black and white texture of the stuffed animal tied to the door, so he brought one hand to cover his eyes from seeing the panda.

Once Luke had one of his arms through the strap of his backpack, he glanced over at Ashton, a soft smile on his face. "Anyway, I have to get to work now, because my shift starts soon. Bye."

Ashton watched as Luke grabbed his earbuds that were hanging from the neck of his shirt and stuck one in his ear. He turned to Ashton one last time.

"Thank you for earlier. You helped us out." Then he placed the other earbud in his ear and walked down the hall.

Furrowing his eyebrows, Ashton asked himself, "Who's 'us'?"

He could've sworn that only Luke was there, besides Michael, Dylan, and Cole. But he didn't really think he helped out the redhead or the twins at all. He only said something when Luke was being harassed by Jim.

Pushing the thought out of his head, Ashton shook his head and began walking down the hall to get to the school exit. He was going to go to the mall, but he was going to get himself to eat. Thanks to the football captain and the other players, Ashton had missed an entire lunch time and his stomach was screaming at him to get food.

Bringing his backpack to the front of him, Ashton opened up his backpack once he was outside and reached for his car keys. Then he zipped up his backpack as he got closer to his car. He unlocked it and sat in the driver's seat, throwing his backpack onto the passenger's side and putting the keys in the ignition.

After waiting for the car to warm up, he put on his seat belt, put his car on reverse, and began pulling out of his parking spot. Then he was on his way to the mall so he could finally get himself some food. He was sort of craving hot dogs, so that was what he was going to get himself. Then after, he can check back at Eighth Notez to see if the Green Day records have arrived.


	7. Chapter 6

Upon entering work late yet again, the blond was scolded by his boss and the angry man swore that the next time the young boy came in late, that time would be his last day of working at Eighth Notez.

Keeping the words in his mind, Luke practically rushed to the employee's room, nearly falling on his way there. When he got to his locker, he fumbled to get it open and got frustrated after the fourth time of failing to unlock it. Once he finally got it open, he gently placed his backpack in there so he wouldn't harm his penguins and pulled out his work shirt, removing his beanie atop of his head and his slipping off his own shirt.

Luke smoothed out the shirt he was currently wearing and then threw his beanie and other shirt inside the locker, opening up his backpack the smallest bit so he could see Puff and Pebbles. The two penguins' eyes looked back at the blond and he couldn't help the smile on his face.

"I'll be back in a few hours, okay?" he whispered to them, kissing the top of Puff's head and stroking Pebble's black fur. "I love you, guys." He slammed his locker shut and then rushed out of the employee's room.

He spotted Shan organizing some CDs near the back of the store and their eyes met momentarily. She rolled her brown ones, shaking her head and resuming back to work. Luke ran his fingers through his hair and made his way over to the counter where he would stand behind the cash register.

Glancing at the name of the song and whom the artist was, Luke saw that it was playing Salute by Little Mix. There were two other songs by the same group that were in queue and Luke decided to just add songs he liked after them.

The sound of someone talking pulled Luke's attention towards a brunet around his age with a small girl in his arms. But what really caught his eye was a Barbie doll whose blond hair was in a braid.

A smile formed on Luke's face as the two saw Luke and walked over to him. The blond greeted, "Welcome to Eighth Notez. If you need anything, let me know."

"Actually," the guy spoke up, "my little sister here wants to ask you a question."

Luke looked over at the little girl who shook her head embarrassingly before hiding her chubby face in the crook of her brother's neck.

Seeing how uncomfortable the small child seemed around him, Luke decided to say, "I like your doll. Her hair's really pretty."

The girl's brown eyes peeked over at Luke and she looked down at the doll, hugging it to her chest.

"What's her name?" Luke asked.

"O-Olivia," she mumbled, drawing her face away from her brother.

"Did you do her hair?"

She nodded.

"Do you think you can do my hair?" He tilted his head to the side so his hair was near her face, causing the girl to giggle.

"Short," she said with a smile on her face.

"I'm not short. You are," Luke teased and the girl shook her head, the smile never leaving her lips.

"No, your hair is short. It's the color of Olivia's hair!"

"Yeah, it is!" Luke's eyes flickered over to the brunet's face and saw that he was wearing a fond expression. He cleared his throat and stood up straight and combed his fingers through his hair. "Now, your brother said you wanted to ask me something?"

The girl nodded her head happily

Luke grinned. "Great. So what did you want?"

Again the girl had an embarrassed look on her face. She looked at her older brother and, with her eyes, pleaded for him to answer the question.

The brunet just laughed, shaking his head as his sister looked away from Luke. "She's looking for a Big Time Rush album." He looked at his sister and bounced her once. "Rachel, don't be embarrassed to ask for something."

"No, it's fine," Luke reassured, waving his hand at the two. "Maybe another time. Anyway, they're in the back." He pointed over to where Shan was. "See where the girl wearing the same shirt as I am is at? Walk over to her and she'll help you out from there."

"Thanks." The boy looked at his sister apparently named Rachel. "Say thank you."

"Thank you," the girl mumbled, bringing her doll to hide her face behind it.

"You're welcome," Luke said as the two walked over to where Shan was. Then Luke crossed his arms on top of the counter and watched as they began talking to the other employee who stopped briefly to help them out.

A couple of seconds later, Luke saw from the corner of his eye another person walking into the store. He could see the person walking straight to the counter and Luke looked down at the computer and seeing that Breaking Benjamin's The Diary of Jane was up next.

When he saw the person was at the counter, Luke said, "Welcome to Eighth Notez. How may I--"

"Luke?"

His eyebrows crinkled together and he looked up to see the boy with wavy hair that he helped out at school earlier that day.

"Ashton, hey!" he exclaimed, smiling.

"You work here?"

"No, I'm just taking money from the register." The blond pressed a button and the machine made a dinging sound and popped open. Luke jokingly grabbed a handful of bills and displayed them before Ashton who just gave a small smile, shaking his head.

"Anyway," Ashton began, "has it arrived yet?"

"Has what arrived yet?" Luke asked as he put the money back into the register and closed it.

"Uh, I was here yesterday around this time."

Luke blinked.

Ashton now had an annoyed look on his face. "Green Day vinyl?"

The blond slowly shook his head and then he gasped. "That was you? Oh, okay! I haven't checked. But my coworker over there with the guy and little girl was putting up some CDs earlier. I think she knows whether the vinyls arrived yet or not. You can go ahead and ask her right now."

Ashton nodded and almost went over there, but froze in place before he could walk to them.

"Over there," Luke repeated, pointing in the direction of where Shan was. "Right there. The one who's wearing the same shirt as I am."

"I--I know," Ashton stuttered. "I j-just--"

Just then, Rachel and her brother were making their way over to where Luke and Ashton were. The blond kept his eyes on Ashton, noticing something was off about him.

"Luke, I don't--I don't feel too well," Ashton whimpered. He brought a hand to his stomach and another over his mouth.

Panicking, Luke stepped in front of Ashton and kept him up as he began to lead him out of the store, but not before shouting to his coworker that he was going to take Ashton out for a bit. At first, Shan gave him a strange look, but she walked over to the register to help the brunet boy and his sister.

Even walking out of the store, Ashton seemed like he was still trying to catch his breath and he looked like he was about to throw up. Luke was trying to get him outside as quickly as possible so he could get some fresh air.

Once they were outside, Luke found a vacant bench nearby and led Ashton over to it, motioning for the shorter boy to sit down. Ashton did so and leaned forward, feeling sick as the blond rubbed his back soothingly.

"You okay?" Luke asked, knowing Ashton would answer with a nod.

But a nod wasn't what he got.

"No," the wavy-haired boy said, "I'm not."

"What happened back there? Did you eat something that upset your stomach?"

"It's--D-Do you really not know?"

Luke shook his head. He didn't know if he was supposed to; he didn't even know who Ashton was until today, so of course he wouldn't exactly know anything about Ashton.

The shorter boy sighed and brought the inner part of his elbow up to his face, coughing into the sleeve before placing his hand over his chest and grimacing. Luke slowly took the seat next to Ashton, scooting closer to him so their thighs were touching.

"It's just..." Ashton began, wrapping his arms around himself and keeping his gaze to the ground. He inhaled deeply before exhaling a shaky breath. "I--I hate this. I hate everything. I hate... myself."

Hearing the other boy say made Luke feel a pang of hurt in his chest. It slightly broke his heart and he didn't know what was to hate about Ashton. From what he had seen so far, there was nothing wrong with Ashton. Everything about the boy was perfect, and he'd only met him properly today.

"I don't think there's anything to hate about you," the blond said, hoping he could cheer up Ashton, but felt the small smile on his face falter when Ashton shook his head.

"There is. I... I can't tell you, though. I don't want you to be like everyone else."

Luke placed a hand on Ashton's knee. "If being like everyone else is a bad thing, then I won't be like them. What is everyone else like to you?"

When Luke leaned down a bit to get a better look at Ashton's face, the blond could see that tears were developing in the shorter boy's eyes.

Wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, Ashton questioned, "A-Are you going to b-bully and make f-fun of me?"

The blond's eyes widened. "No, I--Is that what everyone's doing? Why? Whatever the reason may be, I promise I won't be like the others."

Ashton bit down on his bottom lip before releasing it, looking up at Luke. "Promise?"

"Yeah, I promise."

The shorter boy was hesitant to say anything, so he held up his smallest finger to Luke. The blond linked his pinky with Ashton's and he saw a smile form on the other boy's lips before it disappeared.

As he pulled his finger away from Luke's, Ashton began, "I h-have p-pediophobia."

"You have a fear of kids?" Luke asked, gazing to the ground before shrugging. "W-Well, I guess I can understand since sometimes they can be such intimidating little monsters--"

Ashton weakly laughed. "No, not pedophobia. Pediophobia. It's the... the fear of dolls."

"Oh." Luke was then reminded of the small girl with her Barbie doll back in the music shop. Then he thought back to the word Ashton mentioned. The poor boy had a phobia, like Luke did, but the only difference was apparently everyone knew about Ashton's fear of dolls and they made fun of him for it.

"Yeah. It's stupid, I know," Ashton said, "but I-I can't help and no one understands that. Nobody takes my phobia seriously. They all think it's something that'll just go away on its own and a lot of people use my own phobia against me. No one knows how terrified I become when my fear starts kicking in, and even if they did, they don't care at all. It causes a lot of distress on my part, and I hate that." He took in a deep breath before letting it out, eyes once again staring down at the ground. "Sometimes I wish I could somehow conquer my fear, but that's easier said than done."

"No, it's not stupid at all." Luke brought a finger to the underside of Ashton's chin and had the shorter boy look him in the eyes. "Phobias are not stupid. What others don't realize is that they're as serious as mental disorders. Just because you're afraid of something everyone else isn't afraid of, it doesn't make it stupid."

Ashton shook his head. "You don't know that it's not stupid. How're you supposed to understand?"

"Ashton, trust me." Luke then lowered his voice. "I understand exactly what you mean, and let me tell you: You're not alone on that."

-

The two spent a good hour together just talking back and forth. Ashton didn't want to talk about his phobia any longer, so the two decided to just talk about the kinds of music they liked. They had similar tastes, but when Luke brought up Breaking Benjamin Ashton had no idea who they were. Luke just told him to look them up once he gets home.

Eventually Luke had to go back to work. He told Ashton that he didn't have to go back to the store and that he'd tell him when the vinyl would arrive. Ashton didn't seem like he wanted to go home. For whatever reason that may be, Luke didn't know, but he noticed the way the wavy-haired boy was heading to his car as slowly as possible.

Going back into the place he worked at, he saw his boss was behind the counter helping out a customer who had just purchased a new CD. Luke's boss glanced over his way and the smile on his face fell. The blond gulped, afraid that he was going to get fired. He did run out of the store without letting the older man know. He just prayed that he would be let off with a warning, because today was the first time he actually did that.

His boss only shook his head in disapproval before walking to the back of the store. Luke bit down nervously on his bottom lip before hurrying over to the cash register. He glanced around the place and saw that Shan was gone. Probably because she had gone home. That meant that Luke's boss was working the store all alone.

Luke really hoped he didn't lose his job. It took him an entire year to find a job and he finally got one. He was a shitty employee (how he even got the job was beyond his own knowledge), but he was honestly doing his best.

As he worked around the shop (mostly tidying up the store and being extra helpful towards customers), a hand was placed on his shoulder and he turned around and saw his boss.

"Luke, I need you to stay until closing time," the older man said.

The blond's eyes widened. "But we close at nine."

"I'm highly aware of the business hours."

"Why can't you do it? I'm honestly just curious."

"I'm going to leave early for my son's game tonight and you're the only employee I trust with handling the shop alone."

Luke gulped. "I--Sir, I don't--"

"I know how much you need this job and I really don't want to fire you, Luke. So this is just to make up some of the time you missed for when you were late to work today and those other times. Also, when you decided to leave without letting me know and not return until an hour later."

"I'm sorry."

The older man patted Luke's back. "Don't be sorry. Just don't let it happen again. Spare key's in my office, top right drawer. Return it to me tomorrow when you start work." Then he walked off, leaving Luke to stand where he was.

Biting down on his bottom lip, Luke began fidgeting with the bottom of his shirt. He didn't like the idea of being all alone in the shop, but if he wanted to keep his job he had to do this, no matter how much he didn't want to.

When the shop was empty of people, Luke hurried to the employee's room and quickly opened up his locker, opening up his backpack and pulling out Puff and Pebbles.

"Looks like you guys are gonna join me for work," he said with a smile. He hugged the penguins close to his chest before rushing out of the room and to his place at the cash register. He hid his penguins underneath the counter but made sure they were seated properly. He pet the top of their heads, feeling the soft texture of their fur coats. "I can do this. You guys believe in me, right?"

No response from the stuffed animals, but Luke took that as they believed in him.

While waiting for customers to enter the shop, Luke listened to the music that played around the place as his fingers lightly pinched Puff's flippers and flapped them up and down simultaneously while he just giggled at the adorableness.

Not that many customers went into the store while Luke was still on his shift. The mall closed around the same time Eighth Notez did, so Luke was one of the last people to be there.

The place was dead silent once Luke shut off the computer. Even though no noise was heard, the silence was deafening to Luke. He felt himself unable to move from where he was behind the counter as he hugged Puff close to him and squeezed Pebble's spherical body in his hands.

"Puff, Pebbles... I want to go home," Luke whimpered. "I don't like it here."

Unfortunately, Luke knew his penguins couldn't be the ones to get him out of here. He had to do it himself. Right now he had to get off his butt and close the entrance. He had already done what he had to do around the cash register.

"I can do this, right?" Luke asked his stuffed best friends. "We'll make it out. We will."

Then Luke remembered that his iPod was still in his pocket. He was extremely grateful that he had put his iPod away in his jeans, because he'd feel so much better if he had it with him. At least as the music played it'd seem like he wasn't by himself.

So the blond set his penguins on top of the counter and dug through his pocket, fishing out his iPod and immediately putting the earbuds in his ears. He pressed play and the music was loud, but not too loud to the point it made Luke wince from its high volume.

As Marianas Trench's song Haven't Had Enough filled his ears, his heart that was beating rapidly fast was starting to slow down. He softly hummed the tune of the music as he picked up his penguins and began heading to his boss's office so he could get the spare key. Luke honestly was doing his best in telling himself how he wasn't alone. Puff and Pebbles were with him and the music on his iPod took over the silence.

He wasn't alone. He wasn't alone. He wasn't alone.

Once he got the shop key, he went over to the employee's room where he was going to switch out of his work shirt and back to his own shirt. He pulled the beanie over his blond hair and pulled out his backpack, setting it down on the ground. Then he closed his locker, put his penguins inside his backpack, zipped that up and threw it over his shoulder, switching off the room lights and walking out.

Luke made sure that everything was off on his way to the exit of the shop. When he was outside, he locked the shop gates and turned himself around so he was face with a completely empty mall.

Not a single living thing was in sight and Luke suddenly felt frozen in place. But then he kept having to repeat to himself mentally that he wasn't alone and that Puff and Pebbles were with him. Saying the same thing over and over again helped calm his nerves and Luke was once again home bound as another song started playing.

Because the shopping mall was pretty far from Luke's home, he usually took the bus to and from work since he really didn't want to walk long distances. Unfortunately, the operation hours of the public transportation vehicle were closed and Luke had no choice but to walk home. He didn't trust taxis at all, so those were out of the question.

Approximately, it would take him about fifty minutes to get home if he just walked at his usual pace. Right now he just wanted to be in the comfort of his home where he was with his penguin family. Not to mention he was starving and he remembered having some chicken pesto cavatappi in the refrigerator from last night's dinner.

While walking home, he approached one of the bus stop benches and stopped there so he could take off his backpack and pull out his penguins. He just wanted to hold them on his journey back home. He was feeling a little lonely and he really needed to hold something and his penguins were his best option.

As he continued on walking, the songs on his iPod playing, Luke would do his best to distract himself so he didn't think about how no one was around and it was just his penguins and him around. He'd make small conversations with Puff and Pebbles about anything that came to mind, but one that he really went on about was Ashton.

"I found out Ashton has pediophobia," Luke said to his stuffed best friends. "It isn't the fear of kids, by the way. I thought it was, but I was wrong."

Hugging his penguins close to his chest, he went on, "It's the fear of dolls. I guess it's just plastic ones, like Barbie or Bratz or Cabbage Patch Kids. I don't know if he's afraid of you guys, because to me you're not dolls."

He smiled, squeezing them a little bit tighter. "You're plushies and my best friends. And adorable. How can Ashton _not_ like you guys?"

Luke was quiet for a while and he looked up at the night sky, seeing the bright moon above shining down on him. He made sure his penguins were glancing upwards as well. He wanted them to see the beauty of the moon, too.

"You know," Luke said, "I never told Ashton about my phobia. I wonder what he'll think of it. Or if I should tell him." He rolled his lips in between his teeth. "Eventually."

Honestly, finding out Ashton had a phobia made Luke feel a little bit better not because he was glad that the shorter boy was afraid of something, but because there was finally something Luke wasn't alone about--they both had phobias.

And much like how Ashton feared dolls, Luke feared being alone.


	8. Chapter 7

After running away from the scene, Michael quickly rushed into the school restroom, his body burning all over from when he was bumped into by the blond boy who wasn't looking where he was going. There was so much touching involved and... and Michael was freaking out right now.

The redhead slammed open the door and hurried over to the sink, frantically turning the water on and collecting the cold liquid in his cupped hands. He first splashed the water over his face before rubbing his wet hands up and down his arms, as if he was trying to wash away the touch.

But no matter how much he tried to do that, he could still feel it. His breathing had quickened its pace and it hadn't slowed down at all. He was already in tears and he didn't know how to get rid of the touching feeling.

His technique of washing away the touch obviously wasn't going to work. Michael couldn't get rid of it and the best thing that he could do was calm himself down somehow. It was how he dealt with being touched, since he couldn't rely on anyone else and he only trusted himself when it came to physical contact.

Walking over to the wall, Michael leaned against it and slid down onto the ground so he was sitting. He hugged his knees close to his chest and rested his chin on top of them. He would take in a deep breath of air before exhaling heavily and repeating the same action until his racing heart was back to normal speed and so was his rapid breathing.

Some tears were in his eyes and he wiped them away with the back of his hand. He didn't want anyone to walk in and see him like this, and he was really glad no one was in the restroom while he was. He really needed to be alone right now.

After a couple of minutes, Michael extended his legs outwards and wrapped his arms around himself, slowly rubbing at the bare skin. Eventually, he was starting to relax a bit more and he had managed to stop the tears from developing in his eyes. He was feeling a lot better now and he no longer felt the touch of another person.

The ironic thing about how Michael coped with his panic attack was that the best way for him to calm himself down was for him to massage his arms soothingly. He himself was the only person who could do that without him freaking out. He had not encountered anyone who didn't make him feel panicked whenever they were too close to him, and he was pretty sure that that person didn't exist.

He didn't know how long he was in the bathroom, but it seemed like a long time. He really didn't want to leave, because he didn't want anyone to see that he was crying. He needed to make sure that he looked like he didn't just cry, because if someone noticed they'd ask him what was wrong and he didn't want to explain anything.

Michael heard the door open and his head turned to face that direction, but he kept his eyes to the floor so he was looking at a pair of Vans. He could feel the other guy's eyes staring at him and, for some reason, the redhead began to feel defensive, despite no words being said between the two.

He snapped, "Stop looking at me."

"Well, it's not every day you see someone sitting on the ground in the restroom," said the guy, walking over to the urinal. "Having fun there?"

Michael looked away so his eyes were on the ground. "No."

It was silent for a while before the guy asked, "Why're you sitting on the ground?"

"No reason," Michael answered, hugging his knees to his chest once again.

"So you just like to sit on restroom grounds? Seems kind of unsanitary, don't you think?"

"Shut up, you."

"Rude." The guy walked over to the sink and Michael stole a quick glance at him, watching as he washed his hands. Michael slowly stood up and then walked over to the sink, staring at himself in the reflection before peeking over at the other guy.

It was then that he recognized the guy as Calum Hood, the one who broke Jamie's heart and many other hearts as well. This was the first time he spoke to the brunet, but he already didn't like him before, and the small conversation the two had only made Michael dislike him more.

"Enjoying the view?" Calum asked with a smirk and Michael glared at him, shaking his head.

"No. Just didn't realize I was talking to Calum Hood."

Calum sighed heavily and stopped washing his hands, walking over to the paper towel dispenser. "Of course, you'd know me."

Michael rolled his eyes. "You're such a cocky bastard."

"That wasn't what I meant, but okay then." After drying his hands, Calum tossed the used paper towel into the trash bin and stepped over to Michael. "Anyway, I'mma properly meet myself. I'm Calum Hood." He extended his hand out at Michael, making the red-haired boy's eyes widen and him to jump and turn his body away.

The brunet raised an eyebrow, dropping his hand to his side and saying, "I swear, my hands are clean. You just saw me wash them."

"No, I--" Michael began, but stopped himself before he could reveal his phobia. He shook his head and put a glare on his face as he growled, "I'm not going to shake the hand of someone like you."

Calum narrowed his eyes. "You're really hostile, aren't you?"

"Just leave me alone and get out of here."

"Gee, I didn't realize you were the restroom troll of the school." The brunet turned on his heels and went towards the door, placing his hand on the handle. He turned himself around a bit and said, "I didn't catch your name."

"Go fuck yourself," Michael retorted, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Your parents must really love you if your name is 'go fuck yourself.'" Calum shook his head and started to head out. "Whatever. Have fun masturbating in the restroom, 'go fuck yourself.'"

Michael gaped. "I wasn't masturbating!"

But Calum was already gone and Michael huffed, stomping a foot against the ground and glaring at his reflection.

Now he was pissed off, thanks to Calum. Michael didn't know why so many girls swooned over him; he wasn't even that great of a person. Also, he wasn't even hot.

Michael washed his hands one last time, dried them off against his pants, and walked out of the bathroom. He pulled out his phone and sent a text to Cole to see where he and Dylan were. He figured he'd rather be with his friends now than by himself, anyway. They'd worry too much about him if Michael were to be gone for too long.

A minute after the text was sent, he received one back from Cole who had told him that they were in the canteen with their and Michael's lunches. Michael didn't recall buying himself lunch, so he presumed that one of the twins bought him lunch. He doubted Dylan would do that, so he guessed Cole.

So the redhead started in the direction of the school cafeteria and he didn't see the brunet anywhere in sight, to which he was grateful for. He really didn't want to see him after that encounter not too long ago.

Michael continued his way to the cafeteria and searched around the place for his two friends. Once spotting them, he grinned and walked over to them. The twins were seated next to one another, so Michael sat opposite of them.

"Michael, you okay?" Dylan asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Never been better," the redhead said as Cole handed him a turkey sandwich. The two brothers just nodded at Michael's response and then the three all moved on to a new topic, spending the rest of their lunch talking about whatever came to their minds.

For the rest of the school day, Michael had managed to forget about Calum. Good thing, too, because thinking of the brunet only annoyed him even more.

-

When Michael got home, the first thing he did was go over to the kitchen counter and set his backpack on top of it along with a Thai tea he got from Bubbles Corner. He took a quick sip from the cold beverage before rushing up to his room to grab his laptop.

Even though Michael always sat at the kitchen island to use his laptop, he preferred to keep it in his room when he wasn't around, because he felt it was safer there than out in the open where visitors (if any did come over) would touch it. His dislike of people touching his stuff had nothing to do with his phobia--he just didn't simply didn't want people touching his belongings.

Once he was up in his room, Michael went over to his desk where his laptop was. He opened it up and pressed the power button, but it didn't turn on after a while. He raised an eyebrow and pushed the button again, but he still got the same result.

"What the fuck?" he said to himself, checking to see if his laptop was even charging. It was plugged in and the charger was in the outlet, so there was no reason for it to not work. He decided to pull out his phone and call his mom.

After three rings, he heard his mom pick up the phone and say, "Hello?"

"Mum, my laptop's not turning on for some reason," he said, his finger rubbing random patterns over the keys. "It was working properly yesterday and it's plugged on."

Michael's mom didn't say anything for a bit, the only sound heard from her end was some shuffling noise. Then she spoke, "Oh, um. About that..."

The redhead's heart was pacing right now. "What did you do?"

"I was doing some cleaning around the house and I went into your room to clean it up, but as I was doing so I accidentally knocked over my glass of water that I had brought up and it got all over your laptop."

Michael's jaw dropped. "Mum! And you just left it here?! Didn't even bother to take it to get repaired?!"

"Well, it's your laptop. I wanted you to do something about it."

Letting out a sigh of exasperation, Michael rubbed his hand over his face and through his red hair. He couldn't believe this. He needed his laptop for homework and the only other computer available was his dad's, but his father made it very clear that it was for his work purposes and no one was allowed to touch it.

"Mum, I--I can't just go out and buy myself a new laptop. I don't have any money!"

"Honey, I really can't help you right now. I'm at work and my boss is glaring at me."

"But--"

"We'll talk tonight."

Then the line went dead.

"Jesus Fucking Christ!" Michael cursed aloud as he threw his phone at his pillow. "What the actual fuck, Mum!" He fell onto his bed face first and groaned into the sheets underneath him.

Right now, he was extremely pissed at his mom for many reasons. Just to name a few; she entered his room without permission, she brought a drink in his room and managed to knock it over and ruin his laptop, and she left the mess to him to deal with.

"Fuck my life," he grumbled, turning his face so it was facing his pillow. He grabbed his phone and then sat upright, planning to call the twins to see if he could come over and borrow one of their laptops.

But before he could press the green button, he remembered that both Dylan and Cole were out with their family and wouldn't be back until very late at night, and Michael didn't want to wait that long for them. He hardly talked to any of his peers whose numbers he had in his phone, so they were out of the question.

"Screw this shit. I'll just not do my Chemistry report." Michael locked his phone and set it down on his desk. He slammed his laptop shut and lay on his bed, deciding to take a nap. Without his laptop, he couldn't do his report, and it didn't help that it was due this upcoming Friday. All of his work was online. His work was saved on a Google document, and he had no other access to it whatsoever. He couldn't use his phone to do the report, because typing for hours and hours on such a small device would annoy him to no end.

But he was failing the class. He needed points to boost his grade back up to a C and this report was worth just as much as an exam grade was. He still had a couple of months left before graduation, but he didn't want to start falling behind He felt that if he failed the report, then he would get an extremely low F and he'd have no chance of bringing his grade back up. He was probably being dramatic over this, but still. He needed to graduate.

He needed to get away from everything.

However, Michael's two best friends were out, his dad's computer was strictly off limits, and he didn't talk to the people on his phone enough to just come out of nowhere just to ask for a favor. He couldn't think of anyone else. Except...

"No," Michael stated, shaking his head. "I can't call him. H-He'll..."

His back had chills running up and down, making him shiver himself. He really didn't want to contact him, but what other choice did he have?

Michael picked up his phone and unlocked it, going to the contact he was looking for. He took in a deep breath before letting it out and then pressing the green button. He brought the phone up to his ear and waited for the other person to pick up. He gulped nervously and finally the ringing started to stop.

"Hey, babe," Jim said on the other end, Michael cringing at the nickname that Jim called him. "You never call me. Finally agreed to go out with me?"

"Jim, no," Michael said, glaring at nothing in particular. "I just... I need a computer to work on my homework, but my idiot mum ruined mine and I can't contact Cole or Dylan and... y-you're the last person and I _really_ need to work on--"

"Go out with me on Friday."

Michael sighed. "Seriously, I need to borrow--"

"Let me take you to the game on Friday and I'll let you use my laptop."

The redhead's eyes widened. He couldn't believe that Jim was making this kind of deal. Michael was very sure that he made it very clear that he didn't want to go out with him, yet the football captain was extremely persistent. Was going out with Jim really worth the Chemistry report?

"Please, I don't have time for this," Michael pleaded. "I can't afford to fall behind in class and I really need a laptop."

It was silent and Michael held in his breath, waiting for Jim's response. His hand that wasn't holding the phone gripped at his blanket and he felt his entire body shake.

"Hey, coach!" Jim yelled out, obviously away from the phone. "I, uh, I have to leave early. Got something important to do!"

Michael could hear the football coach say something, but it was inaudible so he didn't catch the words he said. There was a lot of shuffling noise in the back and then Michael heard Jim say into the phone, "I'll call you back. I need to pack my stuff up. Where do you want to meet?"

Honestly, Michael didn't even think of that. Where was he going to meet up with him? The library was way too far away from him and he didn't even have his license yet. He also didn't want to walk all the way back to school, because he had had too much exercise for one day.

"M-My place," Michael said, feeling as if giving out his address to the guy was going to come back to haunt him in the future. "Do you need the address?"

Jim laughed. "Nah, it's fine. I know how to get there. See you later, babe."

The football captain hung up and Michael brought his phone away from his ear, staring down at the screen that no longer showed Jim's number. He ran his hand through his hair and opened up the messenger app, typing his address and sending it to Jim. 

For some reason, Michael couldn't stop shaking. He was afraid of what could happen if Jim came over. The football captain had a crush on Michael, for God's sake. What if he tried to touch him? Or worse... what if he...

Michael didn't even want to think of the worst-case scenario at the moment--or at all. It was making him even more anxious and he just realized that his breathing had quickened. He really needed to calm himself down, so he rushed out of his room and went all the way to the kitchen to get his Thai tea. There he took in large gulps of his Thai tea, hoping it would get him to relax. 

By the time the redhead had finished a little more than half of his beverage, he heard the sound of someone knocking at his door and, instead of going to the door right away, he turned towards the kitchen sink and leaned over it. He felt like he was going to throw up. Maybe drinking his Thai tea in this state wasn't a great idea.

"It's okay, Michael," he said to himself. "You can do this. Just keep a safe distance from him and nothing bad'll happen. Relax." He closed his eyes and breathed in and out slowly until he didn't feel as nervous as before.

However, the knocking at his door got his nerves running again, but he knew that it wasn't going to help him whatsoever if he didn't calm down any time soon. Trying to look as composed as possible, Michael left the kitchen and to the front door, unlocking it and swinging it open.

There stood Jim, typing away on his phone, but then his brown eyes looked up and met Michael's green ones and he grinned. He waved and then said, "Hey."

"Hi," Michael responded, stepping aside and letting Jim in his house. The football captain walked inside, his eyes fixed on the shorter boy who shifted on his two feet. Michael glanced down at the ground and grumbled, "Can you not look at me like that? It's making me uncomfortable."

"God, I want to kiss you." Jim tugged his bottom lip in between his teeth and Michael groaned.

"There's a personal space bubble I'd like for you to stay out of." The redhead moved his hands away in a way to show that Jim had to stay away from him. "You're not allowed to touch me the entire time you're here. Understand?"

Jim nodded and Michael walked to the kitchen, the other boy following right behind him.

"So," Michael spoke up, clearing his throat, "you got your laptop, right?"

"Uh yeah," the football captain said. "It's in my car." He jerked his thumb behind him and started to walk towards the door. Michael narrowed his eyes at him, rolling them and following behind him, but not too close.

Once the two were outside, Jim went over to the trunk of his car and opened it up. When Michael stood a foot away from him, the taller of the two pointed at where his laptop was sitting all the way inside.

Michael just blinked, turning his eyes upwards to Jim and saying, "Go get it."

"Yeah, whatever," Jim muttered, reaching deep inside and grabbing his laptop. When it was in his possession, he handed it over to Michael who took it. The redhead made sure that their hands didn't touch at all and he hurried back inside his house.

The red-haired boy sat down on one of the stools and opened up the laptop, seeing that it was on but locked. As Jim appeared in the kitchen, Michael turned the laptop to him and pointed at the screen. "Log in."

"So demanding," Jim commented, smirking. "I like it. It's hot."

"Shut the fuck up and log the fuck in."

Doing as told, Jim entered in his password and waited for the laptop to load. Before could take it back, the football captain turned the laptop even more away from him. "W-Wait a moment."

"Why?" Michael questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Um, I gotta change something real quick."

Michael cocked an eyebrow at him, watching as Jim placed a finger on the mouse pad and moving it around. He drummed his own fingers against the counter impatiently, because he really wanted to finish up his Chemistry report and kick Jim's ass out of his house already.

Jim finally said, "Okay, here," after a minute and handed the laptop back over to Michael. He spotted Mozilla Firefox and opened that up, immediately going to where his Chemistry report was located.

From the corner of his eye, Michael noticed Jim taking a seat in the stool beside him and at the moment he was way too close for his own comfort. He just prayed that the other boy didn't try to reach out to him or anything.

He tried his best to ignore Jim as he finally opened up his report and scrolled all the way to the very bottom where he left off. He started to recall what he was even writing about and then started typing away.

For a while it was silent, but it was awkward since Jim wasn't doing anything but watching Michael look a curious little kid. Other than making him uncomfortable with his stare, Michael was glad that Jim wasn't trying to do anything he didn't like. The silence still bothered him, however.

"Is it cool if I play some music?" Michael asked. There was no response from the football captain and the red-haired boy looked over at him. "Jim."

"Huh?" the other guy said, his eyes looking up at Michael's face.

"Can I play music?"

"Oh. Yeah, sure. Go ahead." He turned away in his seat, placing his hands on top of the counter and clasping them together.

Michael opened up a new tab and typed in YouTube in the URL. Once he was on the website, he looked up some guitar covers by Sungha Jung, finally settling on Billie Jean.

As the music started playing, Jim twisted himself around so he was facing Michael, surprising the other boy as he moved away the farthest he could get.

"One date," Jim said, leaning close to Michael. "At least go out with me once."

"J-Jim, you're t-too close," Michael stuttered, sliding out of his seat, but the football captain only followed suit and approached Michael slowly.

"Just one date is all I want. After the football game this Friday, let me take you out. You don't even have to go to the game. I'll come over and pick you up.

"I don't--"

"Please?"

Michael found himself trapped in between the counter and Jim whose hands were now on either side of the redhead. The shorter boy could feel his breath starting to quicken its pace and his heart was starting to beat fast. Jim was way too close to him and he was afraid of being touched by him right now.

"You like me," Jim said. "Your breath hitched and I bet your heart's racing."

"Th-That's not--" Michael began, but gasped aloud when Jim brought his hand dangerously close to his cheek.

However, the football captain's hand froze an inch away from Michael's face. Jim whispered huskily, "I'm not going to touch you right now, because you told me I'm not allowed to touch you while I'm here. But if you don't want to go out with me, push me away right now and I'll let you work on your homework."

"I--" Michael gulped, feeling his eyes prickle with tears (but he willed them to not form, since Jim's face was really close to his). "I don't w-want to go out with you."

"Then shove me away. That's the only rejection I'll take this time."

The redhead strongly didn't want to go out with Jim. He had made it very clear that he didn't (even though Jim would ignore it). But if touching the guy was what he had to do to get it through his thick skull that he didn't want to go out...

"O-Okay," Michael mumbled.

Jim's eyes went wide, his jaw dropping before it formed into a grin. "Really?"

Michael nodded. "I'll go out with you Friday. J-Just please, step away from m-me already."

The football captain moved away from Michael, turning his back to him and cheering loudly and boasting (to no one) about how he finally got a date with Michael. However, the red-haired boy placed one hand over his beating heart and rubbed the other at his eyes.

The entire time Jim was celebrating alone Michael rested his elbows on top of the counter and dropped his face in his hands. Then he muttered to himself, "What the fuck have I gotten myself into?"


	9. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: My apologies if the chapter sucks. I'm afraid that my writing has gotten rusty.

Calum had obviously seen the redhead around school before, since the latter boy was quite popular among the students. However, Calum had never personally approached him nor had he ever spoken to him in his entire life until their small encounter in the boys' restroom, and honestly Calum did not expect their first conversation to end up like that.

Sure, in a way Calum expected the boy to be hostile towards him, but it wasn't just that. He had heard from other people that he was intimidating and apparently a lot of students were afraid to anger him, but he had never believed what they said. Now, he _really_ didn't believe anything that anyone said about the boy.

The brunet could tell that the redhead was putting up a tough front, and he honestly wasn't the least bit scared of him. If anything, he was more amused at the other boy's attempt at being the bigger person. To Calum, he seemed more like a defensive puppy--all bark but no bite.

For the rest of the day, Calum continued on his day as usual and the red-haired boy was no longer on his mind. Whoever the guy was, he wasn't important to Calum, so there was no use for the brunet to even think about him.

Once he left his last class of the day, Calum was walking down the hallway and caught sight of a girl staring at him. He raised an eyebrow, not knowing who the person was but felt as if he had seen her before. However, said girl started to approach him and he asked himself what kind of business could she possibly have with him.

"Hi, Calum," said the girl, a smile on her face to show off her white teeth.

"Hey..." Calum said back hesitantly. "Should I know you?"

The girl frowned. "I'm Cheryl. From Physics."

"Oh." Calum tugged his bottom lip in between his teeth. "Hi, Cheryl from Physics."

"We're still on for Friday night, right?" Cheryl bounced lightly on her toes and Calum could see the hope in her eyes, but he was a bit confused because he wasn't entirely sure what she was talking about.

But when he did remember, his lips made a circular shape and then he nodded. "Sure, we're still on. Um, do you want to meet at the front of the school?" Calum rubbed the back of his head, avoiding eye contact with Cheryl.

"Yes, that'd be great." The girl bit her bottom lip before she released it, clasping her hands in front of her and shyly staring at the ground. "After the game, do you want to go out to eat?"

The brunet shrugged. "Sure, why not? Sounds fun."

Again, Cheryl smiled before she said that she was going to text Calum details, dismissing herself and walking past him.

Running his hands through his hair and without looking back at Cheryl, Calum sighed before stuffing his hands into his pockets and continuing his way down the hall. He really just wanted to get home, sleep for some hours. Hell, he'd be more than happy to sleep forever.

But first, before he does go home to sleep, he was going to make a quick stop for a drink.

-

"Hi! Welcome to Bubbles Corner!" said a chirpy female employee who was working behind the counter.

A half smile displayed on Calum's face as he awkwardly waved at her, not saying anything. He didn't plan on coming to this shop in particular to get a drink. The only reason why he came here was because the Starbucks he was going to go to was too crowded and he didn't feel like being within a crowd, whereas Bubbles Corner was practically deserted. Also, it didn't hurt to try something new for once, right?

The brunet glanced over at the person by the counter whose chocolate eyes were fixed on him, waiting for Calum to make a decision on what drink he would choose.

"I'm, uh, still deciding," Calum said, taking a small step back and getting a nod from the worker whose attention turned away from Calum.

Calum's eyes glanced back towards the menu where he looked over at all of the choices. He bit his bottom lip, trying to figure out what he should get. He had never had bubble tea before and he wasn't sure which he should try first.

As he opened his mouth to speak, he heard the sound of the door opening behind him. He turned himself around and saw a brunette who looked younger than he was approaching him. He noticed that she already had a bubble tea drink in her hand and she also looked pissed off.

Without saying anything to Calum, she shoved him aside and stormed up to the counter where the worker said, "Welcome to Bubbles Cor--"

"Don't give me that crap," snapped the girl rudely. She slammed the drink down on the counter and growled, "What do you call this?"

"I believe that is called a milk tea," the employee calmly replied, giving a smile to the annoyed girl.

"I believed that, too, until I drank it. You call this milk tea?!" She shoved the drink towards the employee, making it fall off the counter and splatter all over the ground. "You know, I've had lots of milk teas in my life, and this by far is the worst tasting one."

"I apologize that this drink is not of your taste. Would you perhaps like to try a new drink?"

"Like hell I would. I'm going to sue this place."

Calum snorted. "You're suing because you don't like the drink?" He walked towards the girl who turned around to look at him. "That's pretty stupid, don't you think?"

"Buzz off, bozo," the girl snapped, "don't butt in."

"You can't just barge in here, shove your drink off the counter, and threaten to sue this place. If you don't like this place, then just go to Starbucks. This place isn't going to miss you."

The girl scoffed before glaring back at the female employee. "You'll be hearing from my lawyer."

"Have a nice day, miss," was all the worker said as the brunette stormed out of the place. Once the enraged girl was gone, the girl behind the counter sighed before walking towards the backroom.

"Hey, you okay?" Calum called out as she came back with a mop and a bucket filled with dirty water.

"I'm fine," she said, taking the mop out of the bucket and squeezing water out with the wringer. "I've had worse customers coming in before." She began cleaning up the spilled drink and then briefly glanced up at Calum, giving him a small smile. "Thanks, by the way."

"Don't mention it. You didn't deserve that," Calum said, resting his crossed arms on top of the counter as he watched the employee. "So, um, I've never tried bubble tea before. Do you have any recommendations?"

The employee temporarily stopped what she was doing, put the mop back on the wringer, and looked at Calum. "Personally, I like Thai tea. It's one of the most basic kinds of bubble teas, along with milk tea."

"Is it possible for me to have a sample? For both Thai tea and milk tea?" Calum displayed a wide grin and the girl chuckled before 

"Yeah," she responded. "I'll be right back."

The girl went to the back and Calum was then by himself. He went to one of the empty tables and took a seat there, waiting patiently for the employee to return. He pulled out his phone and saw that he had a notification for a missing call. He furrowed his eyes, unlocking his phone to see who called him.

Eight minutes ago, his dad called him.

Calum let out a sigh before pressing his dad's name, bringing the phone up to his ear and listening to the ringing, waiting for his dad to pick up.

"Calum?" responded his dad.

"What's up?" the brunet asked, his left elbow resting on top of the table and the palm of his hand propping his chin.

"Oh, I just wanted to let you know that I'm not going to be home until very late tonight. Go buy yourself dinner."

"I think I'll find something to eat at home."

"Okay. You have money?"

"Yes, I do." Calum wanted to hang up already.

"Good. Be safe, Calum."

"Sure, dad. Bye."

"Bye. I love you--"

He hung up.

"Here you are," said the employee, making Calum look at her holding a cup that had... both milk tea _and_ Thai tea?

"What in the world?" Calum blinked at the cup, standing up onto his feet and walking over to the counter.

"This is a dual cup," the girl explained. "It's like a bubble tea cup, except it can hold two drinks separately. Of course, each kind of drink is about half the portion a normal cup would hold, but combined it's pretty much the same amount."

"That's pretty cool." Calum took the dual cup from the girl's hold and examined it closely. He noticed the seal, tapping it and asking, "Do I make a hole here or...?"

"Yes. You use this big straw." She picked up a mint straw and handed it to the brunet, pointing at one end of the straw. "It's bigger than a regular straw, because it allows you to suck up the tapioca balls as well."

"These things?" He pointed at the black orbs that were at the bottom.

The girl nodded. "I prefer my bubble teas without them. You can give the drinks a try now if you want."

Calum nodded and then decided to try out the milk tea drink. He poked a hole on the top with the straw and then started taking sips. When he pulled the drink away from his lips, he let the flavor of the milk tea kick in.

He didn't know what the upset customer earlier was so angry about--he thought the drink was pretty great.

The brunet continued the drink more of the milk tea, not realizing that one of the tapioca balls went up the straw and right down his throat. It surprised him at first, making him draw the straw away once more.

"Yeah, don't drink it too fast or else you might choke on the tapioca," the employee said. "Try drinking it slowly."

"Okay," Calum said. Again, he started drinking the milk tea, taking the girl's advice. This time, one of the tapioca balls made its way into his mouth and he stopped drinking, chewing on the small ball. After he swallowed the tapioca ball, he said, "I think I prefer the drink without it, but I do like it." He reached into his pocket for his money. "How much is the drink?"

"It's on the house," she answered.

He stopped digging through his pocket and looked up at the girl. "Are you serious? I don't know if I should take it without paying."

"It's fine. I mean, you did help me with that other customer. I think she got lucky dealing with me. If it were my coworker Johnny, then he would have exploded at her."

Calum just nodded. "Uh, I didn't get your name. What was it?"

She gave Calum a small smile. "Katie."

The brunet grinned. "Well, it was nice to meet you, Katie. I'm Calum, and thank you for the free drinks." He raised the cup at her. He once again reached into his pocket and pulled out one dollar, giving it to Katie. "A tip for you."

"O-Oh." Katie was taken aback when Calum placed the coin in her hand. "Thank you."

"Have a nice day." Calum then waved at Katie and left Bubbles Corner, so he could go home and finally get some rest.

-

Calum had already finished the milk tea by the time he got home, leaving the tapioca balls in the cup. He decided to drink the Thai tea later, because he just wanted to go sleep already.

He put the cup in the refrigerator and then started heading to his room. Once in his room, he dropped his backpack onto the ground by the door and plopped himself on top of his bed, front first. He closed his eyes momentarily before drawing out his phone, pressing the home button and letting the bright screen stare back at him.

After lowering down the brightness, he slapped his phone face down against the bed and then turned onto his back, his fingers interlocking on top of his chest. He was just about to go sleep before he heard his phone ringing.

As he checked who was calling him, he saw that it was an unknown number. He answered it, just in case it was important.

"Hello?" he said into the phone.

"Good evening. May I speak to Calum Hood?" said the other person.

"This is Calum."

"Oh, hello! I am calling to ask if you'd like to take a survey."

Calum paused for a moment, rubbing at his eyes. "Um, I'm not interested in taking the survey."

"... Would you like to take the survey, Mr. Hood?"

Calum immediately hung up.

"Motherfucker," he grumbled, slamming his phone down next to him on the bed. He turned onto his side so his back was facing his phone, curling himself up a little. He closed his eyes and tried to go to sleep.

But his phone rang again and he groaned, picking the device up and rudely saying, "Hello?"

"Calum?" questioned a female voice.

"Yeah, who is this?"

"It's Mali-Koa."

Calum's eyes went wide and he shot up into a sitting position, his heart beating hard in his chest. The annoyance faded from him and he spoke quietly, "M-Mali?"

"It's been a while since we last talked," Mali said, chuckling weakly. "How have you been? How's Dad?"

"I've been fine, and Dad's doing well."

"That's great, Cal. Is he home?"

"No, he's not gonna be home until later tonight." Calum bit his bottom lip. "How're you?"

Mali sighed. "Honestly, not too well. Uni has been a pain in the neck lately and I can't wait until I graduate."

"You can do it, sis. I know you can. It's your last year, right?"

"Yeah, thank goodness for that. Hey, what time is it where you are?"

Calum drew his phone away from his ear and glanced at the time, bringing his phone back and answering, "Six in the evening."

"Oh." Mali chuckled. "It's one in the morning here in California. Neither my roommate nor I are going to bed any time soon, thanks to uni. She says 'hey,' by the way."

Calum smiled before his smile disappeared and he asked, "Have you talked to Mum since the last time we spoke?"

"No," Mali said with regret and Calum's grip on his phone tightened. "I'm sorry. I just didn't have the time to, because school and work have been making me really busy."

"There's no reason for you to apologize."

"I know, but I still feel bad. You haven't seen her since you and Dad left some months ago, and it happened around the same time--"

"Please don't mention it."

"Sorry." There was silence between the two before Mali said, "I miss you, Cal. I really do."

Calum willed himself to not shed any tears. He tried to gulp away the lump in his throat and then replied, "I miss you, too, Mali."

"It was really nice talking to you after a while. I have to go now, Cal. Take care of yourself. And don't tell Dad we spoke. You know why."

"Yeah, I know." The brunet licked his lips as he and his sister exchanged byes and then hung up. He let out a sigh before lying back down on his bed.

Honestly, Calum hated the reason why his parents couldn't know that he and his sister were keeping in touch with one another. But considering their family history, keeping quiet about it seemed like a better option than anything else. He remembered in his first month in Australia, he asked his dad if he could visit his mom and Mali over the break, but he got no answer for that. In fact, his dad ignored him for three days. He couldn't imagine what his dad would do or say if he were to find out that he was talking to Mali.

Calum shook the thought from his minding, feeling drained of energy and wanting to go to sleep already. He placed his phone beside him on the bed, not caring that it fell to the ground, and closed his eyes, evening his breathing. He turned onto his side and placed one hand under the pillow, finally falling asleep and getting away from reality for a little while.

-

Calum woke up hours later to the sound of something heavy falling to the ground.

His eyes snapped open and he immediately jumped out of his bed, rushing to the source of the noise. When he got to where the front door was, he sighed in relief when he saw his dad holding a stack of papers in his arms and trying desperately to pick up a large box that was on the ground. 

"Dad, really?" Calum groaned, picking up the box.

"Sorry," his dad apologized. "Could you bring that to my room, please?"

"Sure." Calum turned around and started heading to his dad's room, the older man following behind him. He placed the box on his dad's desk while his dad set the papers down on top of said box.

"Thank you," his dad said, standing up straighter and managing to crack his back a little. "You eat dinner yet?"

Calum shook his head. "I went to sleep instead," he answered.

His dad let out a sigh. "You have to eat something. Go check in the fridge if there's anything to eat."

Nodding his head, Calum left his dad's room and started heading to the kitchen. He opened up the refrigerator and saw that there was a stack of cheese. He grimaced, because he didn't want to eat cheese.

He kept on searching until his eyes landed on the Thai drink. He forgot that he had even gotten that for free, all because he helped out Katie with the unsatisfied customer. Of course, he wasn't going to drink the Thai tea at such a late time. He decided to save it for the morning before school.

In the end, he settled with a simple bowl of Cocoa Puffs. It wasn't much, but it was still something that he could eat. He brought the milk and box of cereal to the counter, opening up a cabinet above him and pulling out a bowl. Calum poured the Cocoa Puffs and milk into the bowl before placing the items back where he had gotten them.

Calum grabbed a spoon from one of the drawers and then placed it inside his cereal. He didn't feel like walking all the way to the table just to eat cereal, so he chose to eat right at the counter.

As he ate his late "dinner," Calum thought back to his older sister, Mali. He missed her--he hadn't seen her since he was still in New Zealand when the two siblings were hugging each other at the terminal and promising each other that they would keep in touch and see each other again. (She was going to college in the States, but when the semester at her college ended she would go back home to New Zealand.)

However, Mali hadn't gone back home in a while due to her now having a job as a waitress in order for her to pay for her education, so she and Calum rarely talked to each other. Calum didn't blame his sister--she just had a life of her own and her own problems to deal with. She just couldn't make the time to call her younger brother. (Calum never called Mali, because Calum had a lot of free time in his hands and Mali told him that she would always call him when she is available to talk.)

Calum finished the cereal and placed the empty bowl in the sink, rubbing at his eyes tiredly and heading up to the bathroom where he would brush his teeth and splash his face with water. Once that was done, he went to his room, closed the door, and went to where his phone was lying on the ground.

As he picked up his phone and walked over to the desk to set his device there, he couldn't help but look over at the picture. He kept staring at it for a while before shaking his head vigorously and walking over to his bed, falling onto his back.

He let out a heavy sigh. Sometimes, he wished that he didn't move. He wished he was still living in New Zealand with his dad. He felt that his life was better there than it was in Australia. He had friends--people that he cared about, other than his family--and no one there judged him like the ones do at his current school. At least he was happier. The only downside of New Zealand was that it was the place where something emotionally scarring to him happened. 

It was where he realized that a certain feeling was dangerous--something he shouldn't even get himself mixed up in and that he did his very best to avoid. Because everything that falls breaks, and he sure as hell didn't want to go through that again.


	10. Chapter 9

"Lauren, I keep telling you that the store doesn't have the vinyl yet!" Ashton exclaimed for the umpteenth time. "They will let me know when it comes in."

Lauren narrowed her eyes. "How long does it take for one measly store to get one measly record?"

"I don't know, but please don't punish me for that." He gulped. "I can't do anything about it."

"Whatever." Lauren turned herself around and walked out of her brother's room. Clearly, she was pissed, but it wasn't Ashton's fault that she was a very impatient person. He shouldn't be punished for why Eighth Notez didn't have the vinyl yet. He just didn't understand why his sister was so evil to him.

Ashton just sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. It was way too early in the morning for anything, even if it was already Friday. All he wanted to do was get through school (hopefully avoid Jim as much as possible), go to the shop to see if the vinyl is in yet (and maybe talk with Luke for a bit) and then head home so he could sleep for the rest of the day.

Sometimes, Ashton wished that he would fall asleep and never wake up.

He glanced at the clock and saw that there was still some time before seven. At least he was already cleaned up, but he had yet to pack up his things. He had spent the entire evening just studying, although he really didn't need to study. He just had nothing else better to do, so why not study, right?

Shoving all of his school supplies into his backpack, Ashton could hear his sister blasting music loudly from her room. This was one of her ways of calming herself down after being angered. And obviously their mother didn't like this technique of hers--especially since it was still very early in the morning.

Once all of his stuff was packed, Ashton swung his backpack over his shoulder and grabbed his car keys from off the desk before exiting his room. When he passed Lauren's room he knocked on her door and said loud enough for her to hear, "Lauren, I'll check after school today, okay? Is there anything else you want other than the vinyl?"

Lauren didn't respond verbally. Instead, she just raised the volume of the music. He just sighed in defeat. He didn't understand his sister sometimes. Maybe she was just at that rebellious stage of her life. He sort of wished that Lauren could at least be nicer to him. The least she could do was _not_ use Quinn against him.

Ashton walked away from his sister's room while their mom was approaching the door, telling Lauren to turn down the music. He softly bade his mom goodbye before leaving the house. He didn't want to be at home any longer. He just wanted to be at school already--even if school wasn't that much better than being at home.

He got to his car and shoved his backpack into the trunk before making his way over to the driver's seat. In the duration of his car warming up, he was on his phone. Not really doing anything in particular. He was just looking through Instagram. 

On his account he mainly followed food or photography pages, because he liked food and looking at photographs eased his mind better. He didn't follow anyone from school. Why would he? No one liked him. Besides, he was pretty sure that if he did follow anyone they would be weirded out by him.

Once his car warmed up he locked his phone and put it in one of the cup holders, starting to back his car out of the driveway and make his way to school. The radio was softly playing, but it was only on advertisements. Ashton didn't feel like changing the station, so he left it as is while the people on the radio were talking about some kind of insurance.

For the rest of the trip to school Ashton just paid attention to the road, dreading school for the day. He honestly couldn't wait for the day to be over already, and he hadn't even started school yet.

Ashton finally got to school, finding an open parking spot available to him. He took that spot, turned off his car, and climbed out. He went over to the trunk and opened it up, pulling out his backpack and swinging it over his shoulder.

When he closed his trunk, he turned himself around and saw Luke walking towards the school, his backpack in front of him and open. He furrowed his eyebrows, but shook his head. He wondered why Luke couldn't have waited until he got to his locker to take his school stuff out.

He decided to follow Luke into the school, noticing that Luke had his attention inside his bag rather than looking at where he was going. Many students walking in the opposite direction of Luke moved closer to the walls to make way for the tall blond. Ashton thought it was best if he told Luke to watch where he was going, so he sped up to catch up to him.

Before he could reach Luke, someone had crossed paths with Ashton, causing him to bump into them and stumble a bit. He immediately apologized and glanced up to see who he had ran into, seeing Calum Hood.

"I'm sorry," Calum said, "I didn't see you. You okay?"

"I--I'm fine," Ashton said. "I'll just--I'mma go now." He rushed off and heard Calum make a small chuckling sound. He then quickly turned his attention back to wherever Luke went.

However, thanks to his literal run-in with Calum, he had lost sight of Luke, making him frown and sigh. He just shrugged and decided to head back to his locker. It wasn't like he needed to get to Luke anyway.

He felt someone tug at his backpack, pulling him back and throwing him against the wall. 

"Happy Friday, Doll Boy," said the voice, Ashton's eyes growing wide when he saw Jim smirking down at him.

"Jim, n-not today," Ashton pleaded. "Spare me this one day, please."

"How cute," said one of Jim's friends, mocking Ashton's tone of voice, "he wants to be spared." He shoved at Ashton's shoulder so the timid boy's back hit the wall again. "Like hell we'd do that."

"Please, I--I'll do anything."

Jim snorted. "Pathetic. Begging isn't gonna get you out of this."

"Yo, asshats! Knock it off and leave him alone!"

Eyes glanced over in the direction of who was yelling. Ashton was pretty shocked when he saw Calum stomping over to them, brown eyes glaring at the much bigger guys.

"What are you going to do about it?" Jim snapped, shoving Ashton away from him before walking over to Calum.

"Do you want to find out?" Calum challenged, cracking at his knuckles. "Because I'd be more than happy to show you."

Jim narrowed his eyes at Calum. "You won't do anything about it. You're bluffing, I can tell."

"Even if I was, it doesn't change the fact that I want you guys to buzz off. Get a life and stop picking on the poor guy just to make yourself feel better."

The football player just scoffed, stepping away from Calum and shaking his head before motioning his friends to leave and follow him.

While Ashton watched his tormentors leave he heard Calum ask, "Are you okay?"

The wavy-haired boy glanced up at Calum and nodded his head quickly. "I-I'm fine. Thanks."

"Those guys are real jerks. I don't know why they think it's so funny to bully other people, but I'm annoyed with them."

"Yeah, well." Ashton didn't know what to say. For some reason a lot of people thought that his phobia was either stupid or amusing. But Calum was the first person to stand up to Jim and his friends for him. Ashton wasn't sure why Calum chose now of all times to defend him, but, to say the least, he was flabbergasted that he even did at all.

"Anyway," Calum said, "if you need anyone to be on your side, I'm your guy."

"Um, okay," Ashton muttered awkwardly.

"What was your name?"

"Ashton." He rubbed at his arms.

"Okay, Ashton. I'll see you around." Calum waved at him before stuffing his hands into the pockets of his jacket and then walking off.

Ashton licked at his lips before yelling out to Calum, "Th-Thank you again!"

Calum briefly turned around and smiled, sending a small salute to Ashton before continuing on his way, Ashton just watching Calum's back as the taller boy disappeared into the crowd. Even when Calum was nowhere to be seen, he still kept his eyes in the direction he left in.

He just realized now that his chest was pounding. Why was it even pounding?

Trying to calm his racing heart, sighing heavily before walking off to where his locker was located. He had suddenly lost interest in catching up with Luke. Right now he just wanted to grab his things from his locker, grab something small to eat from the canteen, and then head straight to class. He still had a lot of time to spare, anyway.

-

The bell ending second period rang and soon Ashton was shuffling out of his seat to quickly leave his English class. He was getting tired with learning about British Literature, but he supposed that was what happened when he chose to take an advanced class instead of the regular college prep course that most students in his grade would take.

Ashton walked into his next class--Economics. He wasn't too fond of the class. It was just such a boring subject to him, but perhaps it was because it was too easy, so he often just sat at his desk and got bored for the next hour or so.

But this time Ashton noticed that an all-too familiar brunet near the very back of the classroom. His eyes widened, but it shouldn't even have been a surprise to him that Calum was in the same Economics class as he was. Ashton recalled the fact that he had acknowledged that on the first day of school, but somehow it had slipped his mind up until now.

Ashton didn't sit near Calum though. He sat down in his usual spot--the desk that was second from the left (facing the classroom) and second from the front. He didn't like sitting at the very front, but he also didn't want to be too far back where he couldn't read the teacher's sloppy handwriting. Second row was the ideal row for him. It didn't matter which seat in the second row as long it was in his preferred row.

Students were chattering amongst themselves, but Ashton just kept looking at Calum, noticing how the brunet secluded himself from the rest of their peers where he sat. Calum wasn't really doing anything except staring off into nothing, a thoughtful look on his face. Ashton was curious as to what he was even thinking about.

It was almost like Calum had some sixth sense, because he glanced over in Ashton's direction, grinning at the wavy-haired boy whose face began to heat up as he quickly turned his eyes away. He hadn't expected Calum to look at him, and now his chest was pounding once again.

To Ashton's relief, the bell rang and the teacher who had been sitting at his desk the entire time stood up and walked to the front of the classroom, telling to classroom to settle down so they could get started with today's lesson.

He honest-to-God did his very best to stay focused in class, but he couldn't seem to get Calum's smirk out of his mind. Thankfully, he had briefly went over the lecture the night before, so even if he didn't pay attention in class he at least had a good idea on what was being taught. He could afford to slack off just this once, but he couldn't make it a habit or else he'd never get into his first university of choice.

Thirty minutes into class and the teacher decided to announce, "Okay, we'll be doing a little class activity. Two teams. I will count you off and make sure you all take your stuff and move to your team's side." He pointed at a student who was sitting up front on the left side. "One--" he gestured to someone behind the previous student "--two..."

It kept going on from there until all the students had been given a side. Students began to split up into teams, Ashton going to the one's side that was on the opposite side of the classroom. He looked at all of his team members, and then he found that Calum was right next to him.

"Team one?" Calum looked at Ashton, like he was only talking to him.

However, others answered Calum anyway while Ashton merely nodded his head as he was unable to form any words.

The teacher began to go over the rules of the game, the two teams sitting down at the chairs around them. Ashton took the seat in front of Calum, not wanting to stare at him. But he felt like sitting in front of Calum was no better because he was feeling self-conscious at the possibility that Calum could be looking at him.

As the teacher was explaining some things to the class, Ashton really wasn't listening to what was happening, so when the fire alarm suddenly sounded he nearly screamed and jumped out of his seat. He heard someone make a small chuckling sound behind him (pretty sure it was Calum), his face turning red as everyone started to get out of the seat as the teacher instructed everyone to leave their things behind and exit to the nearest open field to the classroom, which happened to be the football field.

Whenever things like this happened out of the usual school schedule, Ashton kept to himself while everyone managed to find their friends and chat with them. So when Calum walked alongside him towards the field and greeted him, he was taken aback.

"Hey, Ashton," Calum spoke up, causing Ashton to look at him briefly before turning his hazel eyes back towards the ground. "Am I bothering you? You're awfully quiet."

Ashton shook his head, but mentally smacked himself for not speaking. "No," he managed to squeak out.

"So, I know it's only been a few hours since that douche messed with you, but how are you now?"

"Okay." Ashton really didn't want to talk to Calum right now, but he didn't have the heart to tell him to leave him alone. He wasn't doing anyone any harm.

"You know, I wasn't kidding when I said I'm on your side. I don't care who the fuck that guy is. He has no reason to be such a dickwad to you."

The wavy-haired boy remained silent. He just listened to Calum rant on and on about how he really wanted to punch Jim and his friends in the face. It made Ashton smile at the fact that Calum got riled up over something that wasn't any of his business. Ashton, although not liking it, could have dealt with Jim alone, but someone finally stepped in and told his tormentors off. 

He didn't realize he was staring at Calum's face until the taller of the two tilted his head to the side and asked, "What? Somethin' on my face?" He reached his hand up to wipe over his mouth.

Ashton's cheeks heated up and he quickly averted his eyes away from Calum's confused expression. "N-No!" he said defensively, although there wasn't really a reason for him to respond that way.

Calum chuckled, appearing amused by Ashton's flustered response. After he stopped laughing, he cleared his throat and was about to speak before another guy appeared behind him and threw his arm around his neck, exclaiming, "What up, my dude?"

Glancing to the guy, Calum rolled his eyes and said, "What do you want, Arthur?"

"Just checkin' up on my favorite fuckboy." The guy whose name was Arthur glanced at Ashton. He gestured towards him with his head. "Who's this? Your new fuckee?"

Ashton was taken aback. "E-Excuse me?"

"No, you idiot," Calum growled, "this is Ashton. He's a fellow classmate."

Arthur cocked a brow. "So why're you talking to him if you're not fucking him?"

Ashton blushed at the thought of having sex. He briefly glanced at Calum before turning his eyes away from him, his cheeks burning even more from embarrassment. Calum wasn't bad looking, he would admit that, but he wouldn't want to have sex with someone he hardly knew. Besides, he knew about Calum's reputation of being a heartbreaker. He didn't want to end up like those girls he would see crying after Calum turned them down.

Calum groaned, rubbing a hand over his face. "I don't think you realize that not every person I talk to is someone I want to have sex with. Also, if that were the case, then why are we talking?"

Arthur smirked. "Are you implying you want us to--"

"Go away, Jones."

Ashton noticed that a few people away was Luke standing around with his unzipped backpack in his arms. Luke was merely gazing around, every once in a while peering inside his backpack.

Looking back at an annoying Arthur and an annoyed Calum, Ashton said, "I'll just leave you two alone now. See you in class, Calum." Then he turned his back to them and walked off.

He heard Calum groan behind him and snap at Arthur, "Look what you did, you fuck. You scared him off!"

Arthur merely responded, "Meh, you could do better than him anyway."

Ashton chose to ignore that comment as he got closer to Luke. A small smile came across his lips when Luke's blue eyes met his hazel ones. The taller of the two immediately zipped up his backpack, bringing it behind him before waving at Ashton.

"Hi, Luke," Ashton said.

"Hey," Luke said, smiling. "How are you?"

"I've been better." He glanced behind Luke. "So, um, why did you bring your backpack out here?"

The blond's smile fell. "Wh-What?"

Ashton pointed at the other boy's backpack. "That. Most people leave their stuff in class."

"Oh. Um, well--" Luke reached for the back of his neck "--I prefer to keep my belongings on me at all times."

"But if a real emergency were to occur, you'd have to leave your things behind--"

"Nope, nope. I'm still bringing them with me."

Ashton raised an eyebrow. "Uh, okay then. Are you always emotionally attached to your things?"

Luke shrugged. "Not everything. Can I tell you a secret?"

"A secret?" The wavy-haired boy's eyes widened.

"Yeah. It's the reason why I like to have my stuff with me at all times."

"Um, sure, but do you really trust me with your secret?"

"Why not? We're friends, right?" Luke pulled his backpack in front of him once again, his fingers on the zipper as he began to open his backpack. "This is P--"

A loud whistle was blown near Ashton and Luke, causing the boys and everyone else around them to bring their hands over their ears and wince at the sudden noise. When the whistle stopped, all eyes glanced back to see one of the supervision people looking at everyone.

"Get back to class, everyone!" she shouted, hurrying people off the field as she went to some other students who were still talking and standing around.

Luke turned back towards Ashton and said as the two started walking back to their classes, "Anyway--"

"Actually, Luke," Ashton interrupted, holding his hand up, "I think you should hold off telling me. We just met and I don't think I should be trusted with the responsibility of knowing your secret."

Laughing a little, Luke grinned down at Ashton. "Yeah, okay. If you say so. How about you and I hang out after I finish work today? As long as my boss doesn't tell me to stay back for closing, I finish at around seven. Also, my paycheck came in this morning, so I can pay for you if you don't have any money, wherever we may go."

"You really want to hang out with me?" Ashton asked, seeming surprised.

"Well, yeah. If I didn't, I wouldn't have asked. You seem like a cool guy and I want to get to know you."

Blush coated Ashton's cheeks, causing him to turn away from Luke. He placed his slightly cold hands over his face in an attempt to cool his warm cheeks.

"Is that okay?"

Ashton glanced back up at Luke, mentally slapping himself for not responding. "Uh, y-yeah. That's fine."

Luke beamed. "Great! We can talk more about our hang out at lunch. Wanna meet at the entrance of the cafeteria?"

"Okay." Ashton smiled. "I'll see you then." He then waved at Luke as the latter boy dismissed himself, walking in the opposite direction from where Ashton was heading. 

During the rest of the walk back to the classroom, Ashton couldn't stop thinking about the fact that he had just made plans with Luke. It shouldn't have been a big deal, friends make plans all the time, and Luke was a friend.

The smile on his face grew. He actually had someone he could call a friend.

By the time he got back to the classroom, most of his classmates were already there. He saw that Calum was at his seat, legs stretched out underneath the seat in front of him while he was picking at his nails.

Ashton slowly sat down at the desk in front of Calum, the brunet turning his attention away from his fingers and glancing at Ashton.

"Hey," he said with a small smile. "I'm sorry about the guy earlier. His mind is always sex, sex, sex. And he thinks I want to have sex with everyone I talk to."

"It's okay, I don't mind," Ashton said immediately, not really wanting to engage in a conversation with him.

Calum looked at Ashton with a raised eyebrow. "Don't mind what? That he thinks I want to have sex with you?"

Cheeks turning a bright red, Ashton quickly waved his hands in front of him. "N-No! That's not what I meant! I-I meant to say that--" He stopped himself when Calum just lightly laughed as he folded his arms on top of the desk and leaned against them. Ashton just blushed even more.

"Don't worry about it, I know what you mean," Calum said. He glanced towards the door and then back at Ashton. "Well, the teacher's back. Guess we still have to deal with Economics, right?"

"Y-Yeah..." Ashton turned around in his seat, slumping in it while the teacher walked to the front of the room to complain about the fire alarm interrupting his lesson before proceeding to talk about what was going to happen in class.

Normally Ashton would pay attention in his classes, but his mind was elsewhere--mainly alternating back and forth between how Luke actually wanted to hang out with him and how he just made an idiot of himself in front of Calum. So when the class activity began he didn't participate at all. He pretty much zoned out for the rest of the class period.

And at one point when everyone had to actually get up and move around, Ashton lingered in the back of his team to watch everyone. However, he was way more focused on Calum than anyone else and he didn't realize it until he caught himself staring at him. Even the brunet noticed the wavy-haired boy was looking at him and sent him a gentle smile and a friendly wave, which made Ashton flustered.

Ashton was very much aware of the things he heard about Calum. He was very much aware of the fact that the number of girls he turned down was high. He was very much aware that Calum wasn't a relationship kind of person. He was very much aware that Calum had a tendency to lead people on before breaking their hearts shortly after. Yet here he was...

Now he was understanding why so many girls fell for someone like Calum. Because now he was unfortunately standing in their shoes and he was one step closer to experiencing the same brokenhearted fate as they all did.


	11. Chapter 10

It was lunchtime and Luke went to stop by his locker so he could put away some of his textbooks. Puff and Pebbles were also in his backpack and they weren't getting enough room, thanks to the large books he had to bring to school.

When the fire drill had happened earlier that day, Luke was grateful that he had kept his little friends in his backpack rather than leave them in his locker like he usually did. 

"Are you guys comfy now?" Luke questioned the penguins once he put away the last of his things so his backpack only had his adorable best friends inside. "More room for you guys."

He then just stood in front of his locker, looking down at the penguins. He lightly bit his bottom lip before deciding to place his friends in his locker. He promised them he'd return to them and bring them food to munch on (because they obviously eat).

Luke shut his locker and zipped up his backpack before throwing it over his shoulder. He continued walking to the cafeteria where he would wait for Ashton.

By the time he got there, he saw that Ashton was standing by the door that led to the cafeteria, his arms hugging himself as other students passed by him. Luke made a small smile and walked over towards.

When their eyes met, Ashton seemed to be relieved and approached Luke. "Hey, can we go now?" Ashton said before grabbing Luke's hand.

"Are we not gonna get food first?" Luke questioned, jerking his thumb towards the canteen.

Ashton tugged his bottom lip in between his teeth before releasing it. "I kinda don't want to."

Luke pouted as Ashton began to lead him away, glancing back towards the cafeteria and mouthed a sad 'goodbye' to the place. He supposed he wasn't going to get food until his break at work tonight.

After a while of walking around, the two reached the custodial room and Ashton knocked on the door three times. A few seconds past and the door opened, revealing a nearly bald guy slurping up instant noodles.

Swallowing down his food, the guy smiled and said, "Afternoon, Ashton. Where to?"

"Rooftop, Eddy," Ashton answered.

Eddy pointed at Luke with his chopsticks. "Who's he?"

Ashton briefly glanced next to him before looking back at the janitor. "This is Luke. He's a friend of mine. Is it okay if he comes with me?"

"A friend, huh? Sure, it's okay." Eddy went back into the room and set his noodles down before walking out and closing the door behind him. "Let's go."

Luke didn't realize that he and Ashton were still holding hands until he felt the other boy tug him along behind Eddy. And if they noticed that their hands were beginning to interlace, neither of the two said anything about it.

Eddy led the two students to a door, unlocking it and opening it for them. "You know what to do," Eddy said to Ashton, the young boy nodding in response.

Once Ashton and Luke walked past the door, Ashton turned to look at Eddy, thanked him, and watched as Eddy closed the door.

"What are you supposed to do?" Luke questioned as he followed Ashton up the stairs.

"Lock the door every time it closes so that no one else can get in," Ashton explained. "The rooftop's restricted to students, but Eddy lets me up here."

"So, other than the janitor, who else is allowed up here?"

Ashton shrugged. "I haven't seen anyone come up here before."

Luke just nodded at that. The two stepped closer to the edge and Luke looked out into the view, admiring everything. He glanced back at Ashton to see the other boy sitting down on the ground with his back against the wall. Luke went to join him.

Neither of the two said anything for a while. Ashton had his eyes closed and the back of his head leaning towards the rough wall. Luke just stared at Ashton, as if waiting for him to say something.

"So," Ashton finally said.

"So," Luke said back.

"Did you have anything in mind? For our hang out after your work?"

"Hopefully, we can grab a bite to eat. I'd most likely be starving after work, so we can go to the food court at the mall or somewhere else." Not that he was already currently hungry right now. He totally wasn't in dire need of food.

Ashton nodded his head slowly. "I'd prefer somewhere else. If I may ask, is that all we'll be doing?"

Luke didn't really think that far. He only thought of spending time with Ashton, but not what they could do. He just sort of hoped that they would spontaneously do whatever came to mind.

"Well," Luke began, "if I'm being honest, I didn't really have a plan. I just wanted to use our time together to get to know you some more."

"Oh." Ashton's eyes looked down at the ground. "That's fine, too. I guess if we have nowhere else to go, we could go to either one of our places. Would you rather go to your place or mine?"

Luke was going to suggest his place, but he never had anyone come over, and honestly he didn't really want anyone to come over. True, he didn't like being alone, but his family of penguins made up for the emptiness and he only ever needed them at home. Luke never felt alone as long as his family was around.

"Yours," Luke answered, smiling at Ashton whose hazel eyes looked up at him.

Ashton grinned. "Great. I hope I don't bore you to death."

"I'm sure you won't." Luke chuckled.

The two said nothing else for a while. Ashton's eyes gazed up at the sky while Luke's were on Ashton. Maybe Luke didn't notice it before—or he did but didn't think much of it—but Ashton was actually pretty cute in his eyes. Even if he was only looking at his side profile, he still found Ashton attractive.

A while passed and Luke let out an unknowing sigh, which made Ashton glance at him. Flustered and not expecting for their eyes to meet even for a brief moment, Luke quickly averted his eyes away from Ashton's, although his mind was still focused on him.

"What?" Ashton asked, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Nothing," Luke said all too quickly. He sort of wished that right now he had Puff and Pebbles to comfort him through his embarrassment.

"Come on, it's gotta be something."

"Nope. Nothing at all."

"Luke—" Ashton scooted closer until their shoulders were touching, his eyes still locked on Luke while the latter was trying his very best to not look.

"I was just thinking about something and I just so happened to be looking at you, that's all," Luke answered. "I just didn't realize I was until you looked at me."

"Okay then." Ashton extended his legs out and placed his clasped hands on his lap. "I understand what you mean. That happens to me quite a lot. Like, why couldn't I have looked elsewhere rather than at some other person, right?"

Luke made a small nod. "Yeah." Then his stomach made a small rumbling noise. Thankfully, for Luke, Ashton didn't hear it as he continued talking.

"It's so freakin' embarrassing—especially when the person you just happen to be looking at turns their head in your direction. And there are other times when I'm looking around and then my eyes look at someone else who was already looking at me, yet _I'm_ the one who gets embarrassed. How do people not feel the embarrassment that I feel when someone I'm looking at looks back at me?"

"Mhm." Luke tried to prop his chin in his hand as a gesture to cover up the fact his stomach growled again, but ended up dropping his arm down to his side.

"Maybe I'm overthinking it, but I can't help it. That's how I feel. I—" Ashton stopped talking, and Luke sat up straighter. Ashton pulled his knees close to his chest and buried his face into them. "Sorry for ranting. I'm going to just shut up now. Please, let me die in a hole."

"Wait, what?" Luke was caught off guard at the last part. "No, you don't have to do that." Luke rested his hand on Ashton's shoulder and turned himself around to face him. "It's fine if you talk. I want to hang out with you, and that's exactly what we're doing right now."

Ashton didn't say anything. Luke wasn't sure whether it was because he didn't have anything to add to that or because he said he wasn't going to talk.

Luke made a small frown, wanting Ashton to speak, but didn't press on. He felt like if he were to force Ashton to talk then Ashton wouldn't like him. As a friend and an individual.

After a while, Ashton sighed heavily before saying, "Sorry."

"You don't have to apologize. It's totally fine," Luke reassured. He put a smile on his face and took Ashton's hand into his. "Hey, why don't you tell me something you like?"

Ashton looked at him with a surprised look. "Something I like?"

"Yeah. What do you like? For example, I like penguins. I think they're the most adorable things in the world."

That seemed to have made Ashton smile. "Penguins are kinda cute."

"They are! When they waddle all over the place, it makes my heart warm. Penguins make me happy."

"That's lovely."

"So—" Luke turned back to Ashton "—what do you like? What makes you happy? What is the penguin to your Luke?"

A small giggle came out of Ashton at Luke's analogy, and Luke didn't think he heard a laugh so beautiful before.

"Well, I don't really know," Ashton answered with a shrug. "There isn't really anything that comes to mind."

Luke tried to think of something else. "How about music? Any favorite artists? I like Breaking Benjamin."

"We've had this conversation before, haven't we?"

Luke tilted his head to the side. "We have?"

Ashton nodded. "I remember you told me to look up Breaking Benjamin."

"Did you look them up?"

"No." He looked down at his hands with embarrassment.

A grin formed on Luke's lips as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. "Do you want to listen to them now?"

Then Ashton smiled. "Okay."

As Luke pulled out his phone, he moved closer to Ashton and went to his music, going to one of the Breaking Benjamin songs. He conveniently had his earbuds on him and plugged them into the audio jack, handing one earbud to Ashton. The music began to play and Luke smiled when seeing Ashton nodding to the rhythm of the song.

A minute into Angels Fall and Luke felt a weight on his shoulder. He glanced down to see that Ashton had his head resting on him, but he didn't seem to be aware of it as his eyes remained on the phone screen. Luke didn't push him away or even ask what he was doing. Instead he let his head lean on Ashton's.

The song came to an end and Ashton smiled, drawing himself away from Luke and said, "I like them."

Luke grinned. "Yeah? This is from their newer album. If you want, you can go ahead and listen to more of their songs."

"I'll do that. May I see your phone?" Ashton held his hand out and Luke gladly placed his phone in Ashton's hand.

Luke watched intently as Ashton looked through the list of Breaking Benjamin songs and finally went to a song called Failure. He went to play it and the two fell silent once more to listen to the song.

As the song was playing, Luke's stomach rumbled and immediately Luke curled in on himself. He felt that whenever he was hungry his stomach would growl louder than the norm and that was already embarrassing enough. He really hoped that Ashton was too busy listening to the music to even notice his rumbling stomach, but then he saw Ashton turn his head and look down at his stomach before his hazel eyes glanced to meet Luke's eyes. Luke wanted to disappear.

"Sorry, we probably should have gotten food before coming here, huh?" Ashton said, taking the one earbud from his ear and placing it on Luke's lap. He stood up and dusted himself off.

"Y-Yeah," Luke mumbled, awkwardly standing up and swearing at his stupid tummy for making noises at probably the worst time possible.

Ashton chuckled as he walked towards the door, his backpack already swung over his shoulder. Luke followed after him and then walked beside Ashton as the two young boys made their way to the cafeteria so Luke could grab a bite to eat.

After their brief conversation about Breaking Benjamin, Luke somehow ended up lingering behind Ashton who was walking faster and humming Angels Fall to himself. Luke wasn't complaining—he didn't mind watching fondly at Ashton at all.

-

Luke didn't have a lot of time to eat his lunch, so he got himself a cheeseburger to eat since it was quick to eat and would keep his stomach happy until the next time he could get his hands on food. He nearly scarfed the whole thing down but slowed his eating pace and blushed when Ashton giggled at Luke's eagerness to eat.

The bell rang two seconds after Luke had finished eating and swallowing his food, and the two boys said bye to one another before going their different ways. Well, Luke watched as Ashton left, a small smile on his face as he waited for Ashton to disappear before he started to head over to his locker.

By the time he had got to his locker, the hallways were being filled with students again who were also getting ready to go to their next classes. Luke opened his locker to reveal Puff and Pebbles sitting in his locker and leaning against each other. He smiled as he pulled out an orange from his pocket. (He had gotten the fruit while getting his lunch and snuck it in his pocket without Ashton's knowledge. He could have easily stated the fruit was for him and that he was going to eat it later, but oh well.)

He placed the orange in front of his penguin friends with a smile, patting them gently on their heads. Puff and Pebbles were so adorable, he just wanted to hug them tightly and never let them go.

Usually, Luke would take his penguins to his English class, but they must have been hungry since he didn't take them with him to lunch and he didn't want to bother them "eating" the orange, so he left them in his locker. He'll come back for them after his class.

However, throughout the entire duration of class he was extremely bored. He wasn't all that interested in the book they were currently reading and nearly fell asleep whenever there was a discussion on the reading they were supposed to do. Luke wished that he had his best friends with him to keep him entertained and awake in class.

Thankfully, the bell rang and class was finally over. Luke packed all of his stuff and began to follow the crowd out the door. Now all he had to do was deal with work for today and then he would be able to hang out with Ashton afterwards. Just the thought of hanging out with the boy with wavy hair made his stomach fill with butterflies.

Luke made it out into the hallway and saw a familiar red head walk past him. He recognized the person as the guy he had collided into. Although he had apologized for running into him, it didn't seem like the redhead listened to him. So, Luke decided that maybe he could apologize properly.

He followed behind the boy and was about to tap him on the shoulder, but instead drew his hand back and walked up next to him. Luke cleared his throat and managed to get the redhead's attention. Smiling a little, Luke said, "Hey."

The boy didn't even look at Luke. He just rolled his eyes and snapped, "Do you need something?"

"Y-Yeah. I wanted to say sorry."

"For what?"

"Running into you."

That caused the red-haired boy to stop in his tracks, arms going around himself. "I-It's whatever."

"No, it wasn't. I should have been paying attention to where I was going. Are you okay? You were really freaked out."

"I'm fine."

Luke didn't really believe that, but he didn't pester the boy any more about it.

Suddenly, Luke was roughly shoved to the side and, with a surprised expression, he looked up to see another guy a bit taller than him with brown hair glaring at him as he snarled, "What are you doing with Michael?"

"Jim, leave him alone," Michael said as Jim rested an arm against the wall above his head.

"I was only apologizing," Luke explained, slowly stepping back. "But I'm leaving now."

Jim grinned. "Good. Get lost."

Luke took one last glance at Michael and saw the boy mouthing something to him. He only blinked at him, not understanding what he was trying to say, before turning around and leaving the two to be. He didn't know what that Jim guy's deal was, but from what he almost did to Luke that one time, he most certainly didn't want to get on his bad side.

As Luke was walking he saw Ashton coming out of a classroom. A smile formed on his lips as he hurried over to him, jumping in front of Ashton on his last step and making the shorter boy gasp.

"Jeez, you scared me, Luke," Ashton said, placing a hand over his chest.

"Are you done with classes today?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, thank goodness for that. I think I'mma go home and rest for a bit. I don't like being at the mall, so spending hours there is one of the last things I want to do." Ashton grimaced, but quickly smiled. "But I'll see you tonight."

"Okay, bye." Luke began to walk off but then he felt Ashton grab at his wrist to hold him back.

Almost as quickly as he had grabbed him, Ashton let go and immediately said, "S-Sorry. Um, th-the parking lot is the other way."

"I take the bus," Luke explained. "I don't have a car, so unless I walk I don't have choice. Besides, I've got plenty of time between now and when my shift starts."

"I can give you a lift. Is that okay?"

"You don't have to."

"But I want to. Please? Let me take you there."

Luke licked at his bottom lip as he watched Ashton take a small step closer to him, wide hazel eyes gazing up at him as they held a pleading expression. Luke didn't want to trouble Ashton more than he already did, but who was he to say no to a face like Ashton's?

"Okay then," Luke said, finally giving in. A big smile formed on Ashton's face as he took Luke's hand in his and led him towards his car. Luke couldn't help but smile as he let himself be led out of the school to Ashton's car.

"Do you know how to drive?" Ashton asked once the two were situated and he was pulling out of the parking spot.

"Not well," Luke answered. "I'm used to walking or taking the bus to get to places. Plus, I don't have a car of my own."

"Don't your parents ever let you drive around in their car? That's what my mum did before I got my own car."

Luke felt his heart fall to the pit of his stomach. His parents. That was one of the topics he didn't like talking about, but did anyway because no one knew about his situation. He didn't blame people for not knowing. If anything, he'd rather if no one knew. It wasn't something he could bring himself to talk about, anyway.

He cleared his throat as casually as possible. "No, they didn't. Never had the time to."

Ashton frowned. "That's a shame. Well, if you ever need a ride, you can always ask me."

Luke smiled weakly. "Thanks."

It was quiet for a while, and Luke was feeling a little awkward and wanted nothing more than to cuddle his penguins—or at least see their faces. He put his backpack on his lap and zipped it open and looked inside... only to find his folder.

His face paled. "Oh, no."

He forgot Puff and Pebbles at school.

"What's up?" Ashton questioned, facing Luke but keeping his eyes on the road.

"Um, nothing. Don't worry about it," Luke said, but he himself was very worried.

This was the first time he had ever left behind his penguins, and what made matters worse was that it was the weekend and he wouldn't be able to get back onto campus until Monday came along. He didn't want to tell Ashton to turn the car around either. The guy offered to drive him to work—he would feel even worse if he asked for anything else. Sure, he had other penguins at home, but without Puff and Pebbles things just weren't the same. They were a part of his family, and he wouldn't feel complete without them.

Throughout the rest of the trip to the mall, Luke was panicking, yet trying to stay as quiet as possible so Ashton wouldn't ask him again what was wrong. He could feel his skin go from hot to cold within seconds, his heart pounding rapidly in his chest, and himself grow to be on the verge of tears.

How could he have been so careless as to forget his own best friends at school? He had never even left his penguins at home before, but he had somehow managed to leave them at school. This was really a nightmare for him.

Ashton pulled into the parking lot of the mall and Luke was only panicking more by the second. The car began to draw closer to the entrance of the mall and Ashton put the car in park.

"I'll drop you off here," Ashton said. "I'll see you after work. Seven, right?"

It was too early for Luke to start his shift. He wasn't allowed to start before his usual time, so that meant he would have to wait somewhere until it was time for him to work. However, Luke didn't have Puff or Pebbles with him to keep him company, even though there were so many people at the mall, he didn't want to be alone. He _really_ didn't want to be alone.

Luke wanted to ask Ashton if he could wait with him until he had to go, but the latter boy had literally stated earlier that he didn't like being at the mall. Plus, he had already driven him to work voluntarily and even offered to drive him anywhere if he asked. The request had got caught in his throat, but he'd swallow it back down before opening the door and grabbing his backpack.

"Th-Thank you," Luke said, stepping out of the vehicle. "See you later."

"See you." Ashton smiled. Luke shut the door and then Ashton drove off, leaving him alone.

Frantically, Luke hurried over to an unoccupied bench and dug through his backpack for his iPod. He couldn't have his penguins with him, so now he had to have his music player. Once he grabbed a hold of the device, he did his best to untangle the earbuds as quickly as possible before inserting them into his ears and letting the music start.

He relaxed a little as All Time Low played. As long as music was playing, Luke could make himself believe that he wasn't alone. He really didn't want to think about how Puff and Pebbles were all by themselves, so he closed up his backpack and started walking in the mall to get to where most people were.

Luke pulled his phone out of his pocket as he approached the food court and sat down at a table, trying to find something to do as he waited (he had about half an hour). He didn't really have that many apps on his phone that could help pass the time, so he just went to an app store and temporarily downloaded a game he could play in the meantime.

Maybe he shouldn't have gotten a penguin-related game, because now he was only missing Puff and Pebbles even more.

-

Thankfully, work wasn't too bad for Luke. Even though Shan for some reason didn't come in to work and his boss was cooped up in his office working on other things, Luke was fine. Fridays were usually their busier days right after weekends, so a customer was always in the store. That meant that Luke was always busy, but at least he had something to keep his mind off of his penguins.

The only time that sucked was before his shift started. He had to go put his stuff away and it was only him in the room. He had quickly stuffed his belongings in a locker and threw on his work shirt, but putting it on backwards. He simply pulled his arms into the shirt and fixed it on his way out of the room.

Time was drawing near seven and Luke was glad that his boss hadn't asked him to stay back yet. He really hoped that he didn't have to, because he wanted to hang out with Ashton and he'd hate to make him wait for him.

Suddenly, Luke saw his boss walk out of his office and approach him. He nearly swore aloud, but instead straightened himself out so he looked more professional, curious eyes looking to see what his boss wanted him to do.

"Luke, we got some new things in the back," his boss said, reaching into his pocket and handing him a key. "There are three boxes, and every item inside should all go up on the shelves. Everything has been inventoried earlier, so don't worry about that. Afterwards, put the empty boxes back in the stockroom and you are free to go."

Luke nodded as he took the key, going to the back. Although it was nearly time for him to get off work, at least the task he was given wasn't too bad. It was simple enough. Sure, it would take him a while and Ashton would wait longer than he needed to, but he'd understand. Besides, it wasn't like they were doing anything important.

As he made his way to the stockroom, Luke stopped in his tracks. He was going to be the only one inside the stockroom, but he needed to get through this if he wanted to finish and get to Ashton as soon as possible. He took in a deep breath and let it out.

"Okay, Luke, you can do this. You can be alone for one minute tops," Luke said to himself, trying to relax himself. "How about—let's sing a little song. Yeah, good idea, Luke. You're a genius."

He unlocked the door and entered the room, searching the wall for the lights. As he did this, he quietly sung to himself, albeit his voice shaky.

"Stay with me, don't let me go." Luke gulped as the lights switched on. He looked around the stockroom for the three boxes his boss mentioned. "Because there's nothing left at all."

He proceeded to sing to himself as he found the boxes, sealed tightly by tape. He picked up the smallest box, reached into his pocket for his small cutter and tore through the tape. He dug through the items so he had a general idea on what he was dealing with. He went for the next smallest box and opened that up, seeing a bunch of records.

"I walk a lonely road, the only that I have ever known," Luke sung as he saw the Green Day vinyl, pushing the box aside. He grabbed the biggest box and went to open that—

Wait. Green Day vinyl?

Luke stopped what he was doing and practically dropped the box cutter as he turned his attention back to the vinyl. He picked it up from the box and held it up to his face.

The only thought that came to Luke's mind at the sight of the record was Ashton.

Ashton asked for this before, and it was finally here. Luke took a seat on the ground and just stared at the vinyl in his hand. A smile formed on his lips. He could finally tell Ashton that the record he was waiting for had finally come in.

But, another idea came to his mind; maybe he could just buy it for Ashton after his shift since he could get a discount on it and surprise him with it. He felt like he should at least do something for him, considering Ashton has done so much more for him than he had.

Luke was mentally debating whether to just show or tell Ashton. He really wanted to get the thing for him, so after a while of thinking and being seated on the ground with the Green Day vinyl in hand, Luke made the final decision to buy it for Ashton.

He picked up the small box of compact discs and carried them out, resuming to hum. As he walked out of the stockroom and made his way to the sales floor, realization hit him, making him halt in place.

He was just alone in the stockroom and singing was supposed to be a way to keep him from panicking. But he had stopped singing somewhere along the way, because he had his attention on the vinyl Ashton wanted instead and sat in silence.

This was a first for Luke. He had never been so distracted by something to the point where he was able to be by himself in silence without freaking out. He didn't even feel terrified. If anything, he felt... perfectly fine.

Luke had tried in the past before to isolate himself without anything to make up for the silence, but the most he would last was ten seconds before he'd feel his heart rate pick up and his breathing patterns become irregular. He couldn't get the fact that he was alone out of his mind. But just now... his mind wasn't even thinking about being alone.

He was thinking about Ashton.

Luke was pulled from his thoughts when his boss saw him idly standing around and snapped at him to hurry up, so that was what he did. He quickly put up the merchandise on their respective shelves as neatly as possible. It was many minutes past seven and he should have been with Ashton by now. But it was better late than never, and hopefully, Ashton would still be waiting for him.

-

Luke quickly got changed after finishing restocking shelves and even grabbed the vinyl. Another employee had taken the cashier shift and Luke paid for the Green Day vinyl with the employee discount—one thing he liked about working there.

As he ran out, he saw Ashton waiting at the entrance of the mall. He began to get closer to him, keeping the vinyl behind his back.

"Sorry, I'm late," Luke said, standing in front of Ashton. "I had to do some last minute detailing."

"It's fine," Ashton said, waving his hand dismissively. "I kinda got here late anyway. If anything, I'm glad you're late." He made a small laugh, turning on his heel. "Shall we go now?"

Luke didn't say anything. Instead, he lunged the vinyl forward, making it bump Ashton's back.

Confused, Ashton turned himself around and when he saw what was in Luke's hands his eyes went wide and he gasped. He was surprised by the sight of the vinyl before him. He took it into his hold and let his fingers run over the smooth surface of the cover.

"So, as you can see, the vinyl finally came in," Luke said, grinning.

"Th-Thank you," Ashton said. He flipped it around to see the price on it, handing the vinyl back and reaching for his wallet.

Luke placed his hand over Ashton's, pulling it away from his pocket. "No need. It's on me."

"No, I want to pay you back," Ashton said. "Please."

Luke shook his head. "Don't worry about it. This is my thank you for driving me here and such. Just take it."

Ashton made a small frown, but quickly wiped that away as he looked up at Luke and smiled. "Thank you."

The smile had struck Luke for some reason, making his own face soften as he just gazed at Ashton who was turning around and walking off. "Y-You're welcome."

"Anywhere you want to go or shall we head to my house?" Ashton asked, briefly glancing back at Luke who was now following behind him.

Luke was about to suggest they head to Ashton's right away, but then he remembered that he had left Puff and Pebbles at school. Hopefully Ashton didn't mind going there.

It was a Friday night, and if he was not mistaken, there was a football game at school, so chances were that the campus would be open as well. People had to walk a certain path through the school to get to the football field anyway. And he could use the game as an excuse to go back to school. He didn't really want to admit that he forgot his best friends in his locker, and he'd feel bad to make Ashton take him to school just to get Puff and Pebbles. They were very important to Luke, but Ashton didn't understand that. To him they would only be stuffed animals.

Luke had already thought of a totally great plan to get his best friends. He could go to his locker in the middle of the game, get his penguins, and all shall be good in the world again.

"This is kinda last minute," Luke began, "but there's a game tonight. We don't really have anything else in mind, so do you want to go with me?"

"I've never gone to the games, to be honest," Ashton said with a shrug. "Not that big of a fan of games and I never wanted to go by myself. Plus, Jim's the captain and he's the last person I want to see."

"Oh." Well, there went his plan.

They got to the car and Ashton unlocked it to let themselves inside the vehicle. "But I guess I could go to one game before we graduate. Besides, I'll be going with you, so it won't be that bad."

Luke had a smile on his face as Ashton gently put the vinyl in the backseat and started the car. He stared out the window and bounced his knee eagerly as the two were getting closer to school.

Operation: save Puff and Pebbles was a go. But of course, he would have fun being with Ashton as well afterwards.

And oddly enough, maybe spending more time with Ashton seemed to be what he was looking forward to the most.


	12. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **AN: This chapter may/will be triggering. Be careful; read at your own risk, please.**

That fucker.

Those words were what Michael thought when the blond boy left, completely ignoring his silent plea for help to get away from Jim. Maybe the guy didn't know how to read facial expressions, but still. Now he was stuck to deal with Jim on his own.

He glanced up at Jim and gulped. "Hi."

"Hey," Jim said with a wink. "Ready for our date tonight?"

"Not really."

"Don't worry. You're gonna love it. Be ready by seven. I'm taking you to the game tonight."

"Wait, what?" Michael raised an eyebrow. "I thought I told you I didn't want to go to the game."

"I know, something about not wanting to find seats or whatever. But I can pull a few strings and ask my coach to let you sit right by the field. You won't have to look for a place to sit in the bleachers and you don't have to stand either."

Michael rolled his eyes. "I already agreed to go out with you. Don't make me go to the game, too."

Jim frowned. "Why? You're my date. You're supposed to be there to support me."

"Do I look like I care?"

Jim didn't seem to find any offense to that. He merely laughed. "I gotta head to practice now. I'll pick you up tonight, okay?"

"Whatever. Message me when you finish the game so I have time to get ready." Michael tried to squeeze past Jim, but the taller boy wouldn't give him much room to move.

"Can I get a kiss from my fair maiden?" Jim wiggled his eyebrows and bit his bottom lip.

Michael groaned in response. "Move it or I will kick your ass."

Jim shrugged. "It was worth a try." He took a step back and Michael hurried away from him, hearing Jim yell 'bye' to him.

As Michael shook his head, he was rushing to get out of school already. Once he got out of the building he saw Dylan and Cole hanging around the front. He smiled and walked over to them to greet them.

"Hey, guys," Michael said. "Friday's finally here. Any plans for the weekend?"

"Got a job interview some place in the mall tomorrow," Dylan said proudly, holding his chin up.

"Yeah, he's gonna flip burgers at Macca's for us," Cole said, grinning.

"No, I'm not! I didn't even apply there!" Dylan pointed at Cole accusingly while looking at Michael. "He's a bitch ass liar!"

The redhead laughed. "Okay, what store then?"

Dylan thought for a moment before shrugging. "I forget the name. It's a music store though. You should come visit me at work some time."

"That is, if you get the job," Cole added.

"Oh, shut up. You're just jealous, because they chose me for an interview and not you."

"Dude, I didn't even apply. Of course they chose you over me."

Dylan huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. He turned his attention back to Michael. "So, are you looking forward to your date tonight?"

Michael sighed. "Why would I? I never wanted a date with him in the first place. I just wanted to get my Chemistry report over with but my mum ruined my laptop, and Jim was the only person I could go to. Of course, he would only help me if I went out with him."

The twins blinked at him. Cole rubbed a hand over his face. "You're an idiot, you know that? Why would you go to Jim of all people? You could've asked us."

"You guys were out and I didn't want to bother you!"

"So?" Dylan said. "We would have gladly helped you anyway!"

Michael groaned, crouching into a ball and burying his face in his hands. "What have I done? I want to cry."

"Look, it's fine. Okay?" Dylan tried to reassure Michael. "It's just one date. It's not like you two are boyfriends or whatever."

"Dylan, do you have any idea who we're talking about here?" Cole said. "If anything, he'd be even more attached to Michael."

"You're not helping me here!" Michael exclaimed, glaring up at Cole.

Cole shrugged. "Not trying. But, if it makes you feel better, we can go with you guys. We'll be far so Jim doesn't see us. But if you want out, just text us right away and we'll rescue you immediately."

Michael shook his head. "No, it's fine. I--I can do this. I just hope he doesn't pull anything funny."

"Hopefully," Dylan said. "I'm gonna head home. You coming with, Cole?"

"Yeah." Cole nodded his head. He looked at Michael sympathetically. "If you need anything, text us right away."

Dylan hummed in agreement and then the twins walked off, leaving Michael to be by himself. The red-haired boy sighed and stood up, smoothing out the wrinkles in his shirt.

"So, a date, huh?"

Surprised, Michael twisted himself around to see Calum was leaning too close for his comfort towards him. He just huffed and growled, "What do you want, Hood?"

"You got a date tonight?" Calum repeated, straightening his stance.

"Yeah. I'm gonna have _so_ much fun on it."

"The way you said that would indicate otherwise."

"Can you just leave me alone?" Michael proceeded to walk off, but Calum had been walking in step with him. "Stop following me, go away."

"Shit, not everything's about you, Red. I just so happened to have to walk this way."

Michael blinked up at Calum. "Red? Really? What's with that? We're not on a nickname basis."

"I don't even know your name. When I asked what your name was, you told me it was 'go fuck yourself.'"

Michael gaped at Calum. "I wasn't--That's not my--" He stopped trying to explain himself, shaking his head as he told Calum his name in defeat. "Michael."

"Okay, Michael." Calum jerked his thumb in a different direction Michael was walking in once they were far away from school. "Headin' that way. I guess I'll be seeing you more often at school, huh?"

Narrowing his eyes at the brunet, Michael felt the need to grow defensive as he scoffed. "Yeah, like fucking hell that's gonna happen. Stay as far away from me as possible, and don't you even dare come near me."

Calum snorted, shaking his head in disbelief. "Don't worry. I wouldn't want to get close to you anyway." He turned on his heels and walked off.

Michael's hands balled into fists as he stuck his tongue out at Calum before continuing on his way.

During his walk home, he made a stop at Bubbles Corner and got himself an almond black milk tea this time. He felt like because of what he was about to deal with tonight (even though it was his fault that it happened in the first place), he deserved to have some bubble tea.

Normally, Michael would wait until he got home before he started drinking his bubble tea, but there were times like these when he would stress drink. Of course, this way had to eventually come to an end, because by the time he had arrived at his house he had already downed the entire cup.

He opened the door and saw his father sitting on the couch. He lifted an eyebrow at him.

"You're home at a weird time," Michael said, walking towards the kitchen to throw his cup away. His dad usually worked until late at night, so seeing him home not long after he had just finished school for the day was unnatural.

"Got to get off work early," his father explained. "Your relatives are coming over for a barbecue we are having tonight."

Michael returned to where his dad was and groaned. "Seriously? Well, I'm not gonna be here. I've got plans."

"Oh, that's a shame. Your cousins would have loved to see you."

"I don't like them. They know nothing about personal space."

His cousins were younger than Michael and they the kind of people who loved physical contact. They saw it as a way of expressing affection. Michael obviously wasn't all about the touching. He had been avoiding them for years because of it.

"Oh, your mother invited a few of her closest colleagues over as well as a long time friend she bumped into today. So, if you do plan on making any appearance, do be on your best behavior. None of this antisocial stuff."

Michael took his backpack off his shoulders and set it down on the ground before taking a seat on the recliner opposite of his dad. "I'm not antisocial. I simply don't want to interact with anyone who is coming here in particular."

"Just behave. Please."

Dismissively Michael waved his hand, pulling his legs close to him and crossing them on top of the chair. He pulled out his phone and shot a text to the Sprouse twins to make it seem like he was doing something. "Where's Mum?"

"She's out shopping with her friend," his dad answered. "They'll be back soon."

Michael nodded and stayed put where he was, receiving a text from Cole first that asked why Michael had sent him a random fact about bunnies.

A few minutes later, the front door opened and Michael looked up, seeing his mother walk in with a bunch of groceries. He didn't bother offering a hand, but his dad did as he left his spot on the couch to help her.

Once his parents went to the kitchen, another person walked through the front door. Michael looked at the figure briefly and then at his phone, but then his eyes snapped back at the person and widened in horror.

There at the door was a man who looked to be Michael's height, his dark brown hair slicked back to keep out of his face with only a strand nearly falling out of place. Dark brown eyes glanced over to Michael before the smallest smirk formed on his thin lips.

It was in no doubt his mom's long time friend, but to Michael he wasn't just a friend, no. He was--

"Mark," he heard his mom call out as she emerged from the kitchen. "This is my son, Michael." She glanced at Michael. "Dear, this is Mark. He's a friend of mine from college. I don't believe you two have met."

Michael shook his head, because his mom had _no idea_.

"Hello, Michael, it is pleasant to see you," Mark greeted, setting down the rest of the groceries he was carrying on the table nearby. He looked at Michael's mom. "I retract my statement from earlier, Karen. I have met your son before."

"Really?" she said, seeming surprised.

"Coincidentally, yes." He turned back to Michael. "Three years has it been?"

"Wow, it's been that long since you two have seen each other? What a small world we live in, where my son knows my college friend. And I never knew."

Michael gulped, shakily standing up as he turned to his parents. "I-I'm going to my room. Gotta take a nap for tonight. I've got plans."

"Oh, are you not staying for the barbecue?" his mom asked. "It's tonight at seven."

Michael shook his head. Then he picked up his backpack and rushed up to his room, closing the door. He put his backpack down by the door and grabbed his phone, immediately calling Jim, since now he had to change his plans. He didn't want to be at home any longer.

For once, Jim didn't pick up. Michael was sent to voicemail. He groaned before leaving his message. "Hey, Jim. It's Michael. I hope it's not too late to make a few adjustments with tonight. I'll go to the game, so pick me up tonight, please? Call me when you can. Bye."

Michael ended the call and threw his phone onto his bed. He really tried to not make the message sound urgent, but he failed, because he couldn't help the fact that right now he was freaking out inside.

The man that was in his living room, he had met him before. It had been three years since he had seen him, but he had known him for five. He couldn't believe that the man his mother called her college friend was the same man he had first met a long time ago.

Letting out a sigh, Michael felt that he should take a nap. He turned himself around to lock the door, but let out a loud gasp when he saw that he wasn't the only one in his room like he thought.

"We meet again, Michael," Mark said lowly as he shut the door behind him. "How have you been? Life is going well for you, I assume."

Michael didn't say anything as Mark walked past Michael, staring at the many things that were scattered around Michael's room. He looked back to the younger boy.

"You look much different now, compared to three years ago," Mark continued, grinning. "Red hair suits you rather well."

"Get out of my room," Michael murmured.

"I won't be long, don't worry. Your parents believe I'm in the restroom, so I'll have to return to them eventually."

This time Michael raised his voice. He stomped his foot against the ground. "I said, get out!"

Mark narrowed his eyes at Michael. "You've changed a lot since we last saw each other," he said. "You're more defiant now, too. I'm sure you've matured in other ways though."

The older man stood up and approached Michael, the red-haired boy becoming more terrified as he tried to step back, only to feel his legs bump into his bed.

"Fate has brought us together again it seems," Mark spoke, standing right in front of Michael and staring him in his scared green eyes. "There must be a reason to that."

Mark's brown eyes looked down at his fingers that pinched at the bottom of Michael's shirt. He glanced up to see Michael glaring at him. Michael could tell that despite trying to put up a defensive front, Mark was able to look past it.

Whatever smirk that was on Mark's face disappeared as his eyes growing darker, his expression far more serious than before. "Show me."

"Show you what?" Michael asked.

When Michael made no effort to move Mark became more impatient. "I know that you know. Don't make me lose my temper. Show them to me."

Despite the vague demand, Michael knew exactly what he was talking about. And he hated that he knew.

He turned around and started removing his jacket, tossing it to the bed. Michael slowly lifted his shirt over his head, however still keeping his arms within the sleeves.

Seconds seemed to have gone by before Michael felt a finger move across his back, starting from the top to the bottom before repeating the same movements in different locations. His whole body became frozen and his heart beat way too fast for him to handle, the memories from three years ago coming into mind. He hated this. Because it was this man in particular who was touching him, this was a million times worse. He wanted to cry. _He wanted to be anywhere but here._

"How does it feel," Mark began, "to know that a memory is permanently etched into you?"

Michael gulped. "It w-wasn't my fault."

"Like hell it wasn't."

And what Mark countered was what Michael had really felt all this time. It was his fault. It had always been his fault.

Nails dug harshly into Michael's back, making the redhead take in a sharp breath as he fell onto his hands on top of his bed. He squeezed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth, holding back a scream that nearly came out of him. He didn't want his parents to run in and see him like this. He was embarrassed, ashamed of himself--he felt disgusting.

The nail dragging down his back was moving agonizingly slow. It was painful, and what made it hurt even more was that it was over skin that had been damaged three years ago.

"It h-hurts," Michael puled, feeling the tears prick at his eyes.

With one last scratch that was worse than the previous ones, he pulled his hand away from Michael. The redhead was sure that the older man had drawn blood.

"You think this hurts?" Mark spoke, his hand reaching around and squeezing harshly at Michael's jaw, the younger boy gasping, whimpering, unable to say anything to him. "You don't know pain. This is barely anything. But don't worry, you'll get there eventually."

His nails were pinching into his skin again, and the touching from him wouldn't stop. Michael was scared out of his mind. He didn't know what Mark would do next. All he wanted was for him to leave him alone and stop touching him.

Michael's phone began ringing, Mark letting go immediately and the red-haired boy taking this opportunity to move as far away from the older man as possible as he looked at the caller ID. The person wasn't his ideal savior, but he'd grab any chance he could get his hands on to get away from Mark.

He heard Mark snort before walking over to the door, hand on the knob. "This isn't over for you. Now that I've found you after all these years, things for you will only get worse, love." Then he left, shutting the door after him.

The phone was still ringing and Michael quickly answered the call as he wrapped one arm around his waist. "H-Hello?"

"Finally you pick up," Jim said. "So, changed your mind about the game, huh? You're gonna come and support me?"

"Oh. Yeah. Um, so can you pick me up?"

"Of course. Let me go talk to coach and then I'll be at your house by seven. Game's at eight, but we have to be there before then."

Michael nodded his head. "Understood."

"Great. I'll see you later, babe."

Without another word, Michael drew his phone away from his face. The moment the phone call ended, his attention went back to the pain in his back. He quickly put his shirt back on and grabbed his jacket that was conveniently thrown next to him. He threw that on and went to lie on his side, pulling his knees up to his chest.

He didn't want to believe this was his life right now. Mark was supposed to be nothing but a horrid memory of his past, but now he was back and ready to make Michael's life a living hell. He literally opened up old wounds, and now Michael was hurting all over. He strongly feared the next time Mark put his hands on him.

As much as he wanted all this to stop, he didn't want anyone to see this side of him. It was bad enough some had seen the way he reacted when he was touched or close to being touched. He didn't want to know what people would think if they knew why he was scared of being touched. He'd be judged, looked down upon. Everyone would hate him.

Unfortunately for Michael, Mark was friends with his mom, so as long as Michael was stuck under this roof and Mark and his mother remained friends, there was no escaping from him.

He was alone in the dark, and there was no light coming for him any time soon.

-

Michael woke up to the sound of his phone beeping. He groggily opened his eyes and looked at his bright screen, seeing that it was Jim texting him. Groaning, he laid his phone down before seeing that his digital clock read seven. He rolled onto his back that was thankfully not in too much pain now.

He really didn't want to go with Jim to the game. How stupid did he have to be to agree to be Jim's plus one? Apparently, very. But he supposed that anywhere was better than wherever Mark was. It was just one night. He can get through this.

His cheeks were stained with tears, and luckily he didn't wipe away the tears so his eyes weren't super puffy. They were surely red, but hopefully no one would notice and question him about it.

Running his fingers through his hair and smoothing out his outfit, Michael made sure he looked at least a little bit presentable before his phone began ringing. He looked at the caller ID, seeing it was Jim. Assuming he was here, he ignored the call and left his room.

To his luck, everyone was outside in the backyard, so he was able to leave without anyone knowing. He opened the front door and was not expecting to see Jim standing there.

"Ready to go?" Jim said, holding his elbow out for Michael to link.

"Go already," Michael said in an annoyed tone, squeezing past Jim and closing the front door. However, the moment Michael stepped out of his house, he didn't realize how cold it'd be. He held up his index finger at Jim. "I'm gonna go grab a thicker jacket. I'll be back."

"You can just wear mine," Jim said as he began to shrug off his letterman jacket.

Michael shook his head no, but Jim had already draped it over his shoulders. Michael stiffened, not liking the small physical contact the two just had. He really tried to ignore it, but it was hard not to when touching terrified him. It didn't help that hours before his back was being clawed into by one of his worst nightmares.

But, as much as he hated to admit, the jacket had brought more warmth than any of his jackets. He could have just worn two jackets, but that would've been a hassle to deal with. Plus, if he didn't want to hold onto the jacket, he could just give it back to Jim.

He tried to brush it off. This was doable for Michael. He could get through this. He took deep breaths to calm his racing heart. He couldn't panic now, not in front of Jim who was one of the worst people to have a panic attack around.

The two walked over to Jim's car, Michael getting in the passenger's seat as Jim went to the driver's. They buckled in and soon they were on their way back to school.

It was silent in the car. The radio wasn't playing, Jim wasn't saying anything and Michael had his eyes on the window, merely staring at the many things they were passing by.

"Took you long enough to finally realize you want to go out with me," Jim suddenly said.

An audible groan sounded from Michael. "Don't be so full of yourself."

"You know, after the game, you can be full of me, if you know what I mean."

Michael's eyes widened and he stared at Jim with an absolutely disgusted expression. "There is no way I'm having sex with you!"

Jim smirked. "One day, Michael. One day."

"You're sick to the head."

"But you love it."

"Keep dreaming, dumbass."

The car ride was once again quiet, and this time there was no conversation all the way to school.

Once Jim found parking, the two got out of the car, Michael sooner than Jim. They started walking towards the school together, although not much was said between the two.

As they were approaching the locker rooms, Jim turned to Michael and said, "You can go ahead to the field now if you want. Remember, you get VIP seats directly next to the field. Now, I gotta go get ready. But I'll see you later, babe."

"Yeah, okay. Bye." Then, to Michael's relief, the two went their separate ways.

Michael got to the field and saw that there were already people in the stands. He recognized most of the people, but he didn't know them well enough to engage in a full-on conversation.

It may have been ten minutes of sitting there, completely bored and cold before Michael decided that he was not going to wait another minute for a game that wasn't going to start any time soon. So he set Jim's jacket down on the bench and left to go inside the school where he could be warm and not bored.

He was glad to see that the hallways were empty of people. It made his walk all the more relaxing. No one would bother him here and he most certainly didn't have to worry about people touching him.

As he was walking, he saw the blond boy who talked to him briefly after school opening his locker and rummaging through it. He furrowed his eyebrows and took a step closer, seeing that he had earbuds in and couldn't have heard him approaching him.

It was then when he caught a glimpse of what looked like two penguins did he seem confused. Why did this kid have penguins sitting in his locker?

The blond kid turned around towards Michael, but not before screaming and giving Michael a heart attack from how loud he was.

Removing his earbuds, the blond said, "Holy crap, you scared me!"

"Are those penguins?" Michael asked, pointing to the stuffed animals that clearly were penguins, but he didn't know what else to ask.

"No!" The guy quickly stuffed them in his backpack before whispering an apology to them.

Michael's jaw dropped as the sides of his mouth curled up. "They are! You have penguins in your backpack!"

"Shh! Keep it down, please?"

"Why do you even have stuffed animals? Aren't you too old to be carrying around stuffed animals?"

"Stop it! Leave us alone!" The blond hugged his backpack close to his chest and began backing away from Michael, tears pricking at his eyes.

Michael noticed that he had said 'us' rather than 'me.' Was he referring to him and his penguins? Why would he include his penguins?

He didn't comment on his choice of pronoun, but instead proceeded to press on. "I'm just curious. Are you not gonna answer my question?"

The blond shook his head before he glanced around the hallway nervously. He looked back at Michael before the fear left his eyes and he tilted his head. "Are you high or did you cry?"

Michael had not been expecting this kind of question from some random guy who he just happened to run into--once being literal. He shook his head and took a step back. "N-Neither. What's it to you?"

"I'm just curious."

The redhead glared at the blond, hating how he was mocking his tone of voice. He sighed before running a hand through his hair. "It's none of your business. So don't bother with it."

"Then leave me and my friends alone."

"You seriously call those things your friends? They're stuffed penguins."

"At least they're much nicer than people like you! A-And they don't even do anything!"

Now Michael was getting ticked off. He shook his head and walked past the blond. "Fine, whatever. I'll leave you alone."

He nearly missed the distressed look on the other guy's face when he said that. The next thing he knew the guy hurried beside him. "W-Wait. Don't leave me."

"Why? I thought you wanted to be alone," Michael said, raising a brow.

The blond shook his head. "I want you to stop bothering my friends. But I don't want to walk back alone."

Michael didn't comment on that. Instead he just kept quiet, the two walking side by side back to the football field where the rest of the people were.

Halfway there, the red-haired boy glanced over at the taller boy, seeing that he was holding his backpack to his chest. He didn't understand why he was so attached to those penguins. However, he knew it was best that he didn't know.

"The name's Luke," the blond randomly spoke up, briefly looking at Michael.

"Um, Michael." He didn't really think he'd be introducing himself.

Luke hugged his backpack tighter. "I'm sorry about snapping at you. I never wanted people to know about them, so I panicked when you were pressing on about them."

Michael bit his bottom lip. "Sorry for that."

"It's fine. You don't see them the way I do. I was feeling threatened and felt the need to protect Puff and Pebbles."

"Your penguins are named Puff and Pebbles?"

Luke nodded his head eagerly. He took out a grey one first and then a small round one. He lifted them up as he introduced them by their respective names. "Puff, Pebbles!"

"Huh. That's--They're kinda cute."

"Right?" Luke put them back in his backpack, this time zipping it up--but not all the way, Michael noticed. Probably to give them air to breathe.

"Thanks for walking with me," Luke said. "I don't normally ask people to stay with me, especially strangers. I'm usually okay as long as I have Puff and Pebbles."

"So, why did you ask me to walk with you?"

Luke's smile left his face. "What you said made reality hit me hard. Puff and Pebbles, as much as I hate to admit, are just plushies that don't do anything. And I felt so... alone."

Michael felt kind of bad now. He didn't mean to make Luke feel that way. He was being insensitive towards him, when all Luke wanted to do was be with his supposed friends.

As quickly as it had gone away, Luke's smile returned. "It's fine. They're alive to me. They're my best friends and I love them with all I've got."

Michael's lips slightly curved up into a smile. "Yeah, okay. They're alive all right."

"Of course they are!"

This kid was weird, but he had to admit that he wasn't too bad.

"So, why were you crying?"

Michael didn't think that Luke would go back to that topic. "I wasn't crying. A-And I don't want to talk about it."

"Oh. Too personal?"

"Not something I casually talk about."

Luke nodded his head in understanding. "Well, I hope things get better for you."

Yeah, like that would ever happen.

The two returned to the football field to find that the place was nearly packed. Michael would never understand how people could find watching sweaty people run around enjoyable, but maybe he'd have a different perspective after tonight. It didn't seem likely, but he was going to see what everyone else thought was so great.

A boy with wavy hair started to walk over to them, Michael recognizing him as Ashton, the kid Jim always picked on. He didn't know why he was walking over to them. What did he want?

"Are you okay?" Ashton asked Luke once he was close enough to him. "You've been gone for a long time."

Now it was clear to Michael that the two came here together. He didn't know they were friends. Then again, he usually didn't bother with things that didn't concern him, anyway.

"S-Sorry, I had an upset stomach," Luke said as he moved his backpack around until it was behind him. Michael knew what he said was a lie. He assumed maybe Luke didn't want Ashton to know about Puff and Pebbles. "Must've been when I ate too fast during lunch."

Ashton frowned. "Do you just want to go to my place then? Because honestly I don't want to be here much longer."

Luke glanced over at Michael before turning his attention back to Ashton. "You know what? Yeah, let's go. Thanks for taking your time to drive here though."

Ashton soon smiled before walking back to the parking lot. Luke turned to Michael and grinned.

"See you," he said, waving at him before leaving.

"B-Bye," Michael mumbled, even though the blond was out of earshot. He turned on his heels and then walked back to the football field.

The two football teams had yet to make their appearance on the field, so thankfully Michael didn't have to deal with Jim in the meanwhile. He took his seat on the bench and shrugged on Jim's jacket. However, after a while he took it off. He didn't want to wear it any longer, but mostly because he was getting too warm.

He turned around slightly to see the bleachers being filled with other students. And somehow in the sea of the crowd he saw Calum walking by people with a girl in tow. He grimaced. Calum had found another person whose heart he would surely break.

The weather was too cold for his thin jacket, but it wasn't cold enough to wear his and Jim's jackets at once. So after alternating with either wearing Jim's letterman jacket or not he shrugged off his jacket and kept Jim's jacket around his shoulders. He then proceeded to message Dylan and Cole about random things again before and during the game.

Fortunately, watching the players run around the field and the crowd cheering for their respective teams mostly kept his mind off the problems in his life, so he was going to enjoy the moment while it lasted. Because he may never know whether he'll be able to be distracted like this again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I'll be honest, writing this chapter pissed me off and made me want to cry. So, now you know a little bit of Michael's past. How do you feel about it? You shall know more about it in the future.


End file.
